Books: As Ancient Communications - Essay Example

Research Essay (Case Study) The book is one of the oldest communication tolls which help people to share knowledge, skills and information. Books help people to keep knowledge and transmit it from generation to generation. In spite of great technological changes and digital technologies, books and printed media are still an important part of communication process. When uncertainty exists and no alternative tends to be clearly superior to others in all aspects, communication involves subjective evaluation and judgment. By using formal or informal devices, or both, printed medium must somehow reach a cut-off point, they must decide and select an alternative. The book selected for analysis is a well-known work by Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist. This work first appeared in 19888 and became extremely popular in all parts of the world. It is translated into 67 languages and is sold in 150 courtiers. The way to look at the cultural messages in this book is to look for the power relationships. The book messages are egalitarian and that the social relationships most frequently depicted in book are: hierarchy, dominance, and subordination. Certainly, the man appears to have dominance over the "lower" life forms. To some extend, the book manipulates social meaning and society, the values expressed in the book mirror the dominant ideological themes. In this book, the author has traced a few of the methods that can be used to examine how these themes are expressed (Griffiths 1996). And yet, culture reflected in this book is not only read in messages, but the ongoing work of cultural construction takes place there as it does in more "serious" media forms, such as textbooks and museums, and in other institutions, such as schools and churches; cultural construction suggests a thick and sticky web of meaning that defines how we perceive, think about, speak about, and act in reality. And media along with other social institutions and practices contribute to how we are able to perceive the world. A media specialist, then, would constantly, though not always consciously, refer to cultural myths when designing effective messages, including unique cultural messages of the book, and in so doing help cement into place a status quo version of reality. Individuals move from surface meaning to preferred or intended meaning to cultural (or ideological) meaning. Then we will link that cultural meaning to long-standing political-economic relations which have and continue to structure grave inequalities in access to political, economic, and natural resources. It is that final step that gives this kind of analysis its importance since it shows how essentially throw away cultural forms can contribute to an incomplete understanding of the effects of real relations of experience. The plethora of "unimportant" cultural forms add up to a formidable wall of meaning that reflects the interests of the powerful at the expense of those on the periphery of power (Bühler 2004). What the narrator tells readers is that this space is freely available for "us" to travel through for our own purposes; it is a no-man's land, a continent without reference to particular history, to nationality, even to people. What the narrator describes is a kind of nature preserve, yet he is talking about a continent with over 30 countries, national borders, different political systems, and all the features of any social formation. But his and our position is defined against the absence of people. The reference to a "land of extremes" also suggests the absence of the mundane, of the details of daily life. The book shows extremes as well: the harsh terrain, the contemporary highways; the village (no visible structures). It is never clear that each location is anything more than a kind of backdrop; and yet, these spots are presented as real -- the book is purporting to show not a trip to an architecturally designed park, but a real trek through a number of independent nations (Griffiths 1996,). After exploring text, both from its surface and intended meanings, and its deeper meanings it is now important to return to the larger question: why is it important to undress cultural meaning? The ubiquity of the book messages sent t readers and other forms of popular culture endows them with power; the inanity of the cultural books masks their cultural leverage. But, as we have noted, discourses of gender, race, nationality, and class structure this particular text, positioning not only the intended target audience, but other viewers as well. And it is here that the intended meaning is not in contradiction to its broader and deeper one; readers learn to target only one specific audience, both in terms of creative work and media buys. But as we know, others view and interact with the book under analysis (the ongoing struggle over children's responses to life). The development of global markets, global media, global agencies, and global marketers has led to a push toward globalization in marketing: the treatment of the entire planet as one market. Unlike other media, where the marketer shapes individual campaigns for individual cultures, "global" industry attempts to create the cultural book messages that would work in all cultures. Such efforts benefit the marketer in several ways. The creation of global campaigns is more cost efficient. One danger is the change in material habits that aggressive marketing may bring. Local peoples may switch from purchasing local foods and products to global products, perhaps altering for the worse their diets and the local economy. This is a danger with both multinational and global marketing. Global strategies, though, create other problems for local cultures. A global strategy is designed to be universal, which often translates to image-oriented messages of the book rather than more heavily verbal-oriented book messages (Griffiths 1996,). The roel of the book in information architecture is tremendous. The book audiences are an easily definable group for advertisers to niche-market, falling as they predominantly do into the 15 to 34 age range and in a medium to medium high income demographic category, although our particular concern here is for even younger movie-goers. The books themselves, among other things, offer an outlet for a number of products otherwise banned or discouraged from traditional outlets, like cigarettes and alcohol. If commodities are the element of exchange, and commercial book selling the process by which their value is publicly stated, one issue that comes into question is whether the absence of the commodity as physical embodiment of this trade results in significant alterations of the processes involved in the construction of the messages and whether or not the ideological constructions are still present. With that in mind, we will proceed to examine public service as an example of mass media messages that, at least initially, appear not to have any direct connection to economic profit in the way it is understood in the capitalist market. The analysis of the book messages will essentially use the tools of semiotics and critique to attempt to bring out possible embedded ideological content (Carter 1995). Referents present themselves as the real world, even though, in fact, this reality might already be part of a coding system which operates at a cultural or societal level. Thus, when dealing with an act of communication in whatever medium, it is possible to break down the meaning of the signs, identifying the denoted and connoted meaning. In a visual, such as a picture of a house, the most basic understanding of the colors and shapes represented, would be the denoted meaning. A deeper examination of the house might unveil connoted meanings determined by the social and cultural referent systems. For example, if the house appears on a street with other similar houses, we might connote it is a suburban house, or perhaps it appears luxurious therefore connoting an estate. To deconstruct messages we must begin to look at both sets of meanings. This relationship is reenacted, creating the book that despite its supposedly good intentions, subjects women to patriarchal objectification of the female body. The physical decay that cigarettes cause is only lightly insinuated, and were it not for the fact that the credit at the bottom of the book mentions a doctors association, the message could be seen to be mostly concerned with the unattractive social character of the habit of smoking. In other words, this book, while seemingly attempting to discourage smoking naturalizes a view of women as sexual objects that may, in itself, be damaging. Paulo Coelho criticizes the attitude instead of directly addressing the problems of social life. The concern with balance sheets is not exclusive to cigarette companies; in fact, it is an attitude that lies at the bottom of capitalist enterprise and that is praised as sound management. Accusing cigarette manufactures of heartless capitalism seems to suggest that capitalism itself is compassionate, and that the digital; media industry is a deplorable exception. In a sense, this attack on the book industry serves as a sacrifice performed in order to guarantee the perpetuation of the rituals of production (Chappell 2002). The Alchemist shows images of the face of a person, and next to each one of the images, a short text that summarizes very roughly two different stories of the person's life: one, with the person becoming a crack user; in the other, the person stays away from drug use. From the visual point of view, the most apparent aspect of the book is that of the three people depicted, two are black men and the third one is a woman. The images themselves are rough, and appear in high contrast of black and white. The faces appear removed from any context, even the rest of the person's body. The blank expressions in all three faces give the impression that these are either mug shots or pictures; in either case, they remind the reader of a visual representational code that is paradoxically dehumanizing, since the whole purpose of such pictures is to classify and catalog individuals within a group (criminal population or, for instance, driver's licenses).. A case could be made for the making of this choice based perhaps on the demographics of drug users. However, even admitting to that possibility, the book still contributes to the perpetuation of a set of racial stereotypes that sustain the perception of social problems as being racially determined and exclusive (Lewis 2005). By analyzing the progression of this, not coincidentally, nameless person step-by-step it is possible to extract a few underlying ideological messages. The man graduates from high school, but that is the end of his educational career. Considering the first job obtained, bagger, we are to understand that the choice of pursuing a higher education was not one of many possibilities open to him, but was predetermined by one of two factors or by the combination of both: his intellectual level was not enough to get him to college, or his family's income did not permit him to continue his education. The implications of either assumption say as much about the social grid and hierarchy of an economically segregated society as they do about an educational system that acts as mechanism for inequality (Updike 2001). Another parallel area of study is the role of women and gender within the current system of printed medium. This process involved giving the word "consumption" more positive connotations, since the word used to be associated with disease and needless and premature waste. Combining the study of issues of class and gender in book industry might lead us to ask some interesting questions. Of course, most book sellers prefer to target the social groups with higher amounts of disposable incomes. However, in aggregate terms, the disposable income of the ever-increasing working-class suggests that there are goods and services targeted at this segment of the population, which, in fact, is the case On the one hand, women are supposed to be breadwinners while on the other, they are supposed to maintain their sexiness just below the surface. Actually in recent fashion, lingerie is not even beneath the surface, as it peeks through both tops and bottoms. We analyze cultural texts because we theorize that their repetitive and systematic deployment in our culture contributes to the way we make meaning about our world and that they tell us what is important and valued, and by contrast what is marginal and undervalued, in our culture (Smeijers 2004). Decision about marketing and book management relate to objectives and those that pertain to more specific goals. The latter can be judged on the basis of efficiency; the former depend on normative values. Strategic decisions regarding major directions of an organization are contrasted with tactical decisions that carry out the strategies. Reciprocal decisions, in which one individual interacts with another and causes a reaction (such as competition), are distinguished from controlling decisions, in which one person's actions control the actions of another without interaction. Sequential decisions involving multiple actions and reactions, like those in the marketplace, are differentiated from single decisions. At the other extreme, decisions may be made under conditions of complete uncertainty. The decision maker brings nothing to the actual choice by way of experience or marketing information that helps in selecting among choices. This situation is an unrealistic one and is closely approximated in marketing by an absolutely new product with no marketing-research information available. Choices here might be made on a random basis, such as by a flip of a coin. Given perfect information, there would be no need for evaluations or judgment. Wrong decisions would result only from mistakes. But perfect information is not available, and the difficulties and rewards of decision making stem partly from the inadequacy of information. For instance, it is difficult to predict what competitors will do in the face of various strategies, and their actions greatly influence decision outcomes (Peacock 2004). The digital technology will help publishers to increase global access to the book and attract more readers around the world. The book by Paulo Coelho has a deep cultural meaning accepted and approved by millions of people around the globe. The dream is without doubt first and foremost about work, morality, and exaggerated economic success. But it is more than that, it is also an important part of American self-identity and the way people see themselves vis-à-vis other countries. The relationship with Europe is especially interesting: on the one hand, Europe is seen as economically inferior, but, on the other hand, it is respected for its old or "high" culture. Although people in the U.S. are often confident about their country's economic opportunities, they are less proud of their cultural heritage. The U.S. may well be the world's leading economy, but old Europe is still seen as the center of cultural power and the arbiter of manners and taste. By the same token, however, Europe is also seen as the prime place of snobbery and conceit, a class system stratified in accordance not only with economic power but also with cultural prestige and rank. U.S. citizens dissociate themselves from such snobbery; they have, after all, never had royalty, nobility or titles which can only be acquired by inheritance. Instead, it is thought, success depends first and foremost on an individual's own initiative, his or her willingness to work. The purpose of this book is to question these myths. The author contents that snobbery and cultural discrimination are, in fact, also important elements in the class system. This is not to say that there are no differences between the role culture plays, but it would be a mistake to regard cultural stratification as a strictly European phenomenon. In order to understand how the book pertains to the circulation and distribution of cultural power in society, it is first necessary to investigate how symbolic economies function in general. Thus, although symbolic economies and capital exist independently of the individual, they are still rooted in the collective consent of people. As such, social inequality -even the unequal distribution of money, are based on some kind of violence. Such analysis indicates and illustrates how different cultural codes circulate through book history and how this circulation or economy pertains to the existing power structure and the cultural struggle in society (McMurtrie 2006). In sum, a book is one of the most important communication tools which to join people around the world. Thus, te complexity of the factors facing marketing managers makes decision making a risky, frustrating, subjective process. For most decisions, an extensive set of choices confronts them. Yet, for any specific book seller or publisher, the number of alternatives is limited. Decision constraints exist. Marketing actions are confined to a fixed range of possibilities and the responsibility of the decision maker is to choose within this realistic range. The book under analysis has acquired a cultural meaning and appeals to the global audience. Bibliography Bühler Curt F. 2004, The fifteenth-century book. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Carter Sebastian, 1995, Twentieth century type designers. 2nd edn London: Lund Humphries. Chappell Warren, 2002, A short history of the printed word. New York: Dorset Press. Coelho, P. 1996, The Alchemist. HarperSanFrancisco. Griffiths Anthony, 1996, Prints and printmaking: an introduction to the history and techniques. 2nd edn, London: British Museum Press. Lewis John, 2005, Printed ephemera: the changing uses of type and letterforms in English and American printing. Ipswich: W. S. Cowell. McMurtrie Douglas C. 2006, The book: the story of printing & bookmaking. 3rd edn, New York: Oxford University Press. Peacock John, 2004, Book production. 2nd edn, London: Blueprint. Smeijers Fred, 2004, Counterpunch: making type in the sixteenth century, designing typefaces now ( London: Hyphen Press. Updike Daniel Berkeley, 2001, Printing types: their history, forms, and use. 3rd edn Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Oxford University Press. Read More