Research & Projects

In this project, I produce a few genres of text around the same topic using literacy criticism theories to help contextualize and analyze a pop-culture text, Avatar the Last Airbender. I chose to pursue this topic because Stuart Hall's "Representation and the Media" and Edward Said's Orientalism felt extremely relevant in my generation's media-saturated upbringing. 

Project Thesis: "By applying Hall’s cultural theory of media representation and Said’s theory of orientalism, we can deconstruct how Fire Nation culture is reiterated through the play in “The Ember Island Players” episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and identify how Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Toff, and Aang are represented as naturalized “others” and therefore justifying the Fire Lord and Fire Nation’s imperialist agenda to subdue, control, and profit from the subordinate cultures that the caricatures represent. We can also extend Said’s theory of orientalism to the performative gender representation the actors uptake in order to justify the Fire Nation’s cultural and political conceptual maps of what gender performances exist within perceived “naturally dominant” and “naturally submissive” nations" ("Application Analysis #3, Slide 5).

I included this project in my portfolio to balance out the pedagogy, rhetoric, and creative writing projects. This project reflects my literary analysis practice and demonstrates my proficiency in literary genres such as literary analysis presentation and conference papers and their presentation. 

Objectives

This conference paper and presentation were completed to fulfill the grad student requirements for Dr. Elia-Tamby O'Brien's hybrid ENG 418/518: Literary Criticism course. In their course syllabus they introduce the course by stating, "If you've ever been interested in how we know what we know about texts, how knowledge and information is produced, how texts intersect with culture and inform our understanding of the world, you've engaged with some elements of critical theory. Theory will teach you how to analyze texts, media, stories, narratives, reports-- any kind of cultural production, really, through specific interpretive methods" (Dr. O'Brien ENG 418/518 Course Syllabus). Previous to this course, I had little to no exposure to critical literary theory. 

In this project, my objective was to gain a better understanding of how critical theory can be applied to a text so that I could better understand both the theory and the text. In class, we read theory, but much of it seemed confusing, irrelevant, or intentionally convoluted. My hope was to gain an understanding of how a theory can be a pair of glasses a reader can wear to see a text in a new light.  

Additionally, I wanted to practice the genre of a conference paper. This was my first time writing in the genre, and it was originally difficult for me to understand the conventions and expectations for the genre. It was a challenge to keep readability and presentation in mind when constructing the paper. It was also really hard to let go of a sense of perfectionism. I reached out to Dr. O'Brien multiple times, concerned about the structure and coherence of my thesis. But, Dr. O'Brien challenged me by framing the rhetorical purpose of a conference paper in the context of an actual conference. This paper is a conversation starter; it is an initializing lit review and an articulation of my exigencies. This assignment helped me understand the genre of a conference paper, which will be extremely necessary in the future of my academic career.  

 Results

I really enjoyed working on this project and appreciated the way it let me take a closer examination of a text that greatly affected my childhood. I have always known that ALTA was foundational to my understanding of the world through its themes and cultural commentary. However, using critical theories such as gender representation, cultural remediation, and orientalism helped me understand exactly how the show impacted the way I see the world. And this is a shared feeling for many in my generation. 

Shortly after writing this conference paper and presentation in Spring 2023, Netflix released a live-action version of the series, emphasizing how this show is deeply embedded in many Gen-Z's hearts and memories. While the show was originally animated and televised on Cartoon Network, it tackles themes and cultural issues of misrepresentation, imperialism, and gender in ways that left an impression on a generation that is now becoming an important actor in pop culture and media. In the conclusion of my presentation, I share how "My generation was raised in a media-saturated culture, but as I discussed this project with many of my peers and friends, we reflect on how ALTA and other “kids show” shaped our perception of how societies should work, the importance of imagination towards establishing agency and how power is and should be distributed within a world" ("Application Analysis #3, Slide 12).

In the conclusion of my presentation, I emphasize how this application has, "shown that orientalism and representation are inextricably tied to gender construction within a society, and gender representation of “other” or “oriental” subordinated nations"("Application Analysis #3", Slide 12). Through the application analysis, I realized that the theories built off of one another, adding new cultural perspectives and epistemologies to each generation of literary critics. Looking at ALTA, I saw how these theories intersect, and how orientalism must also be examined with gender theory and cultural remediation. 

While these theories have historically been tied to what the critics deem as "high literature," applying the theories to modern pop culture helps us understand where we are in the imperialist timeline, where we are heading, and how text can help us see our world in a new light, imagining new configurations of power. In my conclusion, I reflect on how my analysis, "shows how even a magical fictional kid's TV series like ATLA is a text that represents and mirrors cultural, social, political, and economic issues within our own imperialist histories" ("Application Analysis #3", Slide 12).