Musical Multimedia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Musical Multimedia - Research Paper Example This "Musical Multimedia" essay outlines and analyzes Madona's Material Girl music video. Representations of feminism and a combination of independence for women echo from Madonna’s song where she gained a place in the academic world. According to scholars, the singer emerged as a new voice in the post-modernist arena where composition was pegged on identities and images to reach out to an audience. The theorization of Madonna’s video equally demonstrates the role of the media in determining new perspectives while also influencing the traditions associated with musical harmonies. The incorporation of the aspects of love and money largely manifest a wider scheme in the performance of ballads while also connecting with varying models of multimedia. However, it is fundamental to acknowledge that songs and music videos have a disparity based on the message reflected to the listeners as compared to music videos as observed in Madonna’s Material Girl. There are three m odels that, according to Nicholas Cook, play an integral in defining the consistency of various forms of multimedia in the scheme of communications. The similarity test, for instance, takes into consideration the coherent and consistent metaphors that sometimes are identical to another. In using metaphorical expressions, Cook observes that varying emerging multimedia forms tend to communicate a message by associating meaning with the expected message as noted in Madonna’s song. This is complimented by the whirring sound found in the film production of Madonna’s song.... The similarity test, for instance, takes into consideration the coherent and consistent metaphors that sometimes are identical to another. In using metaphorical expressions, Cook observes that varying emerging multimedia forms tend to communicate a message by associating meaning with the expected message as noted in Madonna’s song. This is complimented by the whirring sound found in the film production of Madonna’s song that tells a story based on broken love and the essence of becoming rich to win women. According to Cook, the untraditional mode found in Material Girl espouses a new reception in the academic world whereby the song is connected to a love for money through the intertexual reference made in the creation of effect2. Elements of fragmentation and discontinuity are also apparent in post-modernist constructs whereby artists such as Madonna present visual imagery in recreating narrative models to suit a particular audience. This differs from the models that ba se their argument on coherence, consistence and similarity test. Additionally, the disintegration of the studio systems heralded numerous changes in Hollywood with emphasis on exhibition, creation and even distribution leading to the collapse of vintage film production. On that note, the songs and musical videos underwent a new revolution compounded by complicated technology that produced 3 dimension (3D) flicks for audiences with diverse beliefs and values. A difference also exists between a love story and romantic story in regards to the projection of identity and image. In a love story, for instance, imagery is critical during the representation of conventions that directly associated with

Positivism as an Epistemological System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Positivism as an Epistemological System - Essay Example Thus, there can be no room for any mystical abstractions in explaining phenomena. In the second wave of positivist thought, a second form of positivism, i.e. logical positivism took place, and â€Å"took advantage of the further progress made in the hard sciences to insist on purging all metaphysics from the scientific method† (Jordan, 2004, p.28). â€Å"Logical positivist views about science and knowledge were based on a general theory of language. †¦This theory of language featured two main ideas, the analytic-synthetic distinction and the verifiability theory of meaning† (Godfrey-Smith, 2003, p.25). I will discuss these ideas in detail in the next section. The third wave of positivism is generally attributed to a group called the Vienna Circle. â€Å"The Vienna Circle was established by Moritz Schlick and Otto Neurath. †¦But from the early days through the end, a central intellectual figure here was Rudolf Carnap† (Godfrey-Smith, 2003, p.22). In this stage, positivism was carried in its logical form. However, some positivists prefer to regard this latter period as logical or scientific empiricism (Greetham, 2006, p.121), to distinguish it from the previous logical positivist movement. In this essay, I shall use the term logical positivism to refer to the whole of 20th century positivism, to distinguish it from Comte’s 19th century positivism. Positivism as Epistemology From a general perspective, positivism is considered to be an epistemological system through its advocacy of attaining empirical knowledge through sense perception, and its adherence to the scientific method i.e. induction. However when logical positivism stepped into the picture, it was made clear that â€Å"logical positivism had other roots... The first part of the paper consists of an historical analysis of 19th century positivism, logical positivism, up until the period of the Vienna Circle. The second part covers the epistemological implications of positivism. Here,the main tenets of logical positivism and its adherence to epistemology are discussed. A main figure that it will be discussed here is Karl Popper. Finally, this paper is concluded by discussing the fall of positivism. The paper stresses that progress and development in knowledge is an endless endeavor. Since the birth of positivism up until its downfall, positivism nevertheless shaped the manner by which we do science. The authod talks that one is the breakdown of the view of language that formed the basis of many logical positivist and logical empiricist ideas. Another is pressure from holistic arguments. A third is the frustrating history of attempts to develop an inductive logic. A fourth is the development of a new role for fields like history and psychology in the philosophy of science. The report makes a conclusion that positivism succeeded in developing a systematic method of approaching reality. And scientific knowledge was the very basis for reconstructing reality, with scientific laws as central in research. If epistemology is the study of knowledge, then positivism is a valid epistemological system. For if there is one thing that positivism established, it is no other than a coherent reconstruction of human knowledge based on the methods and principles of science itself. It is in this regard that positivism, despite its fall, proved to be influential throughout history.