Appunti Inglese

Anonymous

Anonymous is an internet phenomenon, a form of activism. Anonymous reflects the values of hacker culture that are: transparency, because all information should be free; a total and unlimited access (to computer); a many-to-many logic without hierarchies that could create a meritocratic system (equal opportunity).

The picture is composed of three elements: the man, the slogan, and the logo. The salience is expressed by the image of the man that is the hacker’s typical way of wearing. The mask (connected to V per Vendetta) represents the hidden identity of the hackers and the darkness symbolizes their way of working. You can find this concept also in the logo. In fact, the logo is the ONU symbol modified and the question mark is connected with the meaning of the mask. Another important element is the light on the computer in a central position, that gives salience to the picture. So the image through the finger creates a connection with the receivers.

The slogan

Anonymous, through the slogan, speaks in the name of the world. The slogan “the world needs you” has two principal meanings. The first one is an heteroglossia: a direct reference to American propaganda (Zio Sam – I want you). On the other hand, the text is a call to action for humanity. The text, moreover, expresses a high level of necessity by the use of simple present that expresses a necessity (moral duty). So, the slogan “the world needs you” is a direct reference to the Declaration of Independence. Another important thing is the red color used to underline the word “you”, to give importance to the receivers.

Post Casa Bianca

This is a Facebook post, posted in 2013 by the White House Official page. The post has a multimodal language that uses a plurality of modes: it’s composed of the text of the post, a salient image, and a direct link to a video. The Facebook post is informal but also formal; the informal things are the nature of FB and the bidirectional register. Facebook, in fact, can be considered as a sort of diary but also a circle of friends in which heavy information is diffused.

The name Facebook refers to the university yearbook in which everyone is represented in the same way and so in a peer-to-peer relationship. The formal characteristic is the sender of the message, because it is an institution, the White House. The Facebook post was written in a specific time where Obama was in contrast with the council and tried to reduce the distance between him and the American people. An example of this is the strategic use of “we” to link himself with the people and to make a sense of community. On the other hand, the use of “we” is important to express the contrastive rhetoric against the congress who wants to destroy balance and justice.

There is also the metaphor of balance that is fundamental in USA policy: the people are able to grant balance and justice. According to this, Obama uses a conative language to involve people in their basic role: “to bring the balance.” In this context, the use of “must” has a strategic meaning, that expresses moral duty and there is a reference to the Declaration of Independence of the United States in which is expressed the idea of participation as a duty. This is inspired by Giusnaturalism, which deals with the moral duty of the people to rebel against the government if it doesn’t assure their rights. In fact, the moral duty of the people to rebel is given by the law of nature and by God.

The setting is not neutral because the sky full of stars is a direct reference to Star Wars, and also the writing above the pictures uses the Star Wars font and a Facebook post text recalls a famous dialogue from the film. So the position in which Obama is represented in pictures recalls the position of a Jedi. This is a visual metaphor and an heteroglossia. All the elements of the post are useful to create meaning. The writing below the picture uses the Star Trek Font. The salience is given from the visual part of the post, the iconic elements.

Roosevelt – Four Freedom Speech

“State of Union Address” is the most important speech from President Roosevelt to the chambers, asking in this case for military intervention in Europe.

Backgrounds

• Monroe Doctrine (1823): Theorized the isolated position of USA, they aren’t interested in European affairs and the Europe doesn’t interfere with US business.
• The Manifest Destiny (1850): Destiny of the USA is to expand and spread a government that defends natural rights that come from God, the idea that USA grants rights and freedom, so they have a moral superiority. And the new manifest destiny (1900): area of influence of USA is global and the role of the USA is to grant peace all over the world, so Roosevelt does this speech to convince the chambers that it was their duty to take care of the infringement of the other country.

This speech is based on some contrastive pairs: the new order of tyranny (Nazism/fascism) vs. the moral order (we have society only where the four freedoms are granted), and foreign revolution vs. peaceful revolution (American revolution). Roosevelt affirms that the world is based on four essential freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, freedom from fear, that are not respected in Europe. So it’s a moral duty to the American people to re-establish the order.

In this case, we have a direct reference to the Declaration of Independence that is based on Giusnaturalism which affirms: people alienated part of their sovereignty and they gave the power to an authority that has to protect human rights and that governs according to the laws of nature and nature’s God (Locke). The aim of government is to secure these rights and if it infringes this aim people have the right, a moral duty, to rebel and institute a new government (rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God). The use of “we” remains an inclusive rhetoric that engaged the citizen, and Roosevelt identifies “we” with the American people.

Apple Ad

1984 Apple Ad, is a postmodern metatextual video which entails a knowledge that goes from Orwell’s 1984 to the visual canons of sci-fi movies like Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott himself. The text is structured on contrastive pairs: man vs. woman, crowd vs. individual, light vs. darkness.