Weekly Written Analysis 5

The use of the word flip-flop for thong sandals is a modern term dating from the 1960’s that describes what is probably the oldest form of footwear still being worn. Flip flops have been around for at least six thousand years. As a point of comparison, primitive shoes are shown in rock paintings dating from the late Paleolithic (Stone Age) period some 15,000 years ago (Wilbert, 2002). According to Wilbert (2002) there are depictions of flip flops in ancient Egyptian murals on tombs and temples from about 4,000 B.C.
In America, the first flip flops started to appear after World War II as soldiers brought Japanese sari back from the war, often as souvenirs (Arming, 2001). The precursor to the modern flip flop really began to catch on; however, when a soldier returned from the Korean War in the 1950’s during the postwar 1950’s boom (Arming, 2001). Soldiers wore these predecessors to what we now think of as flip-flops, which were cheap rubber editions that frequently caused blisters and were so poorly made that they didn’t last long (Arming, 2001). As the footwear entered into American popular culture, it became redesigned and changed into the bright colors of Fifties design. As “pop culture,” flip flops became defining examples of an informal lifestyle and came to represent the California lifestyle in general and surf culture in particular (Bellman, 2007).
It seemed like all kids wore them to the beach or the pool and cheap rubber flip flops appeared in every dime store and beach shop. Over time, designs spread from rubber to wood to leather to bamboo and stylized platforms, yet all of them remaining true to the original base design of the early rubber flip flops.
Now, many kids wear flip flops all the time, replacing their athletic shoe trainers.

Arming, F. (2001). The history of flip-flops. Retrieved June 19, 2009 form www.flipflops.com/history
Bellman, H. (2007). How flip flops become popular. Journal of popular culture. Retrieved June 19, 2009 from www.journalfinder.com
Wilbert, Q. (2002). The twentieth century of flip flops. Retrieved June 19, 2009 from www.findarticle.com/flipflops

Journal Article Analysis, Assignment 1-3

Julia Kuehn in her article “Marie Corelli’s Feminine Sublime and the Aesthetic of the Dream”, in a popular context re-evaluate the work of Marie Corelli (1855-1924), the first English bestselling author of the one-volume novel. This article is concerned with what can be called the aesthetic dimension of Corelli’s work. More precisely, the aim is to formulate a rhetoric that describes the narrative strategies of Corelli’s texts. Until now critics have discussed Corelli in a socio-historical context, but have dismissed her novels as popular fiction not worthy of critical analysis (Kuehn, 2008). Consequently, sustained readings of her works are still rare. In fact, in recent years only two critics, namely Rita Felski and Annette Federico, have favored Corelli’s work with close textual analysis (Kuehn, 2008). They explore the author’s appeal through aspects of narrative and not through, for example, the changes in the publishing and library systems.
In contrast, Kuehn (2008) reassesses a representative selection of Corelli’s fictional works, her theoretical and critical writings and her correspondence. Overall, the study aims at understanding the aesthetic of the popular by reading along the lines of three themes. Analyzing a selection of Corelli’s works in the contexts of poetics, romance and religion, it tests out different theoretical models for understanding popular literature. These include genre theory, theories of the sublime, Frankfurt School theories of the mass market, gender theory, Freudian dream theory and selected contemporary psychoanalytical models (Kuehn, 2008). The author develops out of Rita Felski’s analysis of Corelli as a writer of the popular sublime, and subsequently draws upon a variety of other critical readings of the popular and the sublime. Popular culture is, as Felski argues in her essay “God, Love and the Orient,” characterized by an exploration of borders in a utopian gesturing toward a transcendent, exalted, and ineffable sphere beyond the constraints of a mundane material reality, and the location of meaning elsewhere (Kuehn, 2008). Corelli’s contemporary reviewers addressed her attempt to conquer an ordinary reality through “romances” and “dreams” (Kuehn, 2008). The author states that Felski considers this longing as an instance of the sublime, which she redefine in general terms as the aspiration of the human mind toward the silliness which invoke a sense of rapture, transport, or self-transcendence that is linked to a perception of the ineffable and other-worldly.
The introduction argues that Corelli instinctively develops a feminine sublime as a subset of the popular sublime in her novels. It can be understood as a diverse reading of experience characterized by the wish to merge with the sublime object of rapture rather than dominate it by reason. The feminine sublime creates a non-rational rhetoric, which signals the subject’s failure to communicate experience through reason. It finds expression in the romance genre, which is characterized by a yearning for the metaphysical and a mode of excess. Three individual chapters interpret the three main signifiers of Corelli’s feminine sublime: Aesthetics, Love and Religion, and analyze how Corelli manipulates these transcendental themes for a populist context. A subsidiary theme of this article is the proto-modernist elements of Corelli’s work. Throughout the argument surprising convergences between Corelli’s turn-of-the-century populism and the modernist movement emerge.

Reference
Kuehn, J. (2008). The Strategies of the Popular Novel: Marie Corelli’s Feminine Sublime and the Aesthetic of the Dream. The Journal of Popular Culture Volume 41, issue 6, p. 975- 993. Retrieved June 9, 2009 from www.journal.ohiolink.edu

Weekly Written Analysis 4

Stiletto shoes became popular in 1950s when a thin metal rod was placed within the heel to make it strong enough to support the weight of a person (Merrimac, 2001). Today, stiletto heels have become extremely popular and are found in various types of shoes and boots such as sling-backs, pumps, mules, ankle boots etc. Stiletto shoes have become on and off ageing fashion accessories several times since then. The slender stiletto heels however, staged a major comeback after 2000, when young women adopted the style for dressing up office wear or adding a feminine touch to casual wear like jeans (Joseph, 2005). According to Merrimac (2001), labeled super sexy in the genre of high heel shoes for women, stiletto shoes are most coveted by women who love to be seen a notch higher than others, in fashion and otherwise. The stiletto heel is still particularly associated with the image of the femme fatale and is considered to be a seductive item of clothing, very sexy, glamorous and often featured in popular culture (Merrimac, 2001).
Stiletto shoes are available in chic and intriguing styles. Lace-up, ankle boots, knee-length, thigh high, court shoe, pumps, mules and pointed toe shoe, all genres of shoes are experimenting with spindly stiletto heels and are being lapped up by fashion conscious ladies. A popular trend observed in stiletto shoes these days are pointed toe shoes. These shoes are slender and elongated in shape just as the stiletto heel themselves and make the foot appear smaller and sexier (Joseph, 2005). However, women also have the option of going in for more rounded or squared toe stiletto shoes if the slimmer versions are bit too uncomfortable for them.

Joseph, Z. (2005). The fashion talks about stiletto shoes. Fashion magazine online. Retrieved June 11, 2009 from www.article/dashboard.com
Merrimac, T. (2001). The history of the stiletto heels. Journal of fashion. Retrieved June 11, 2009 from www.italianfashion.com/journal/finder

Weekly Written Analysis 3

The ritual of Baptism
In the modern sense of the word, baptism is a Christian ritual or sacrament symbolizing the cleansing of sins or other spiritual impurities (Damper, 1998). Following baptism, Christian believers are welcomed into the Church body as sanctified members. Most baptism ceremonies involve the use of water, although different Christian denominations have different methods of baptizing congregants. Some clergymen will sprinkle the water over an infant, while others prefer to fully immerse an adult candidate in a body of water. The ritual of Baptism became a prominent ritual in American Popular culture. As Christianity grew in popularity, the sacrament of infant baptism became a vital element in the Catholic Church. During an infant baptism, an ordained priest sprinkles a few drops of holy water over the child's head or places a few drops on his or her forehead (Damper, 1998). The infant baptism ceremony is accompanied by specific readings of Scripture, along with responses between the priest, parents and congregation. Baptism of an infant is believed to establish a bond between the child and God, leading to a blessed life as a new creature. According to Damper (1998), baptism deals with the interactions of elite and popular culture, compares prescription and performance, and explores some of the social and culture aspect of the religion.

Reference
Damper, D. (1998). The importance of Baptism: The ritual of Baptism. Retrieved June 4, 2009 from www.findarticle/baptism.com