J. Goggin

REGULATING (VIRTUAL) SUBJECTS

In this article the author examines a number of ways in which the real world economy is currently merging with practices that have been classically understood as belonging to the spheres of culture and play. The article discusses several areas in which the conceptual line between the supposedly rational technologies of finance, and the ‘less serious’ or ‘irrational’ sphere of culture, is fading as finance is progressively enlisted to serve the purposes of entertainment, including film, fiction, and computer games. In addressing areas such as these, where play is steadily entering into the realm of finance, and finance is becoming ever more ludic, the argument also focuses on various ways in which financialised subjects are currently being produced and regulated.

“How Do Those Danish Bastards Sleep at Night?”*: Fan Labor and the Power of Cuteness

This article considers LEGO’s fans and how their labor was mobilized to create The LEGO Movie. Many aspects of this film make it a compelling case study for ludic economies, such as the film’s self-conscious humor that suggests an awareness on of the company’s brand-growing strategies. My argument will address fans’ response to how LEGO has farmed their labor and the lack of resistance encountered in the extraction thereof. I will suggest explanations as to why this is the case, including the kinds of affect generated by LEGO and LEGO narratives as they are transmediated across platforms, from bricks, to animation shorts, to The LEGO Movie. This investigation will include a discussion of LEGO’s staying power in light of one particular aesthetic—cuteness—that contributes to the affective bonds people form with the bricks and the impact of this bond on consumer subjectivities.

Live and Let Die: The Tarot as Other in the 007 Universe

This chapter addresses the role of the Tarot in Live and Let Die, the eighth film in the Bond franchise. It discusses how the Tarot serves as a signifier of ‘primitive’ Otherness, given that Solitaire (Jane Seymour), who plays the Tarot reader, is exotically costumed and both she and the Tarot are associated with voodoo throughout the movie. The Tarot also serves as a mirror of the serial structure of the James Bond ‘universe’ and reiterates the role that chance frequently plays in all Bond films. The chapter also demonstrates that the inclusion of the Tarot as a marker of Otherness is disruptive to the film’s fictional world, yet in keeping with the global exotic tourism theme and exotic film locations that structure all 007 texts.

Romance and Commerce: Imagining Global Amsterdam in the Contemporary Historical Novel

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.Imagining Global Amsterdam gaat over het beeld van Amsterdam in film, literatuur, visuele kunst en in het moderne stedelijke discours, in het bijzonder in de context van de mondialisering. De essays gaan onder andere dieper in op Amsterdam als een lieu de memoire van de vroeg-moderne wereldhandel. Wat betekent deze herinnering in de hedendaagse cultuur? Waarom verwijzen zo veel contemporaine films en romans naar dit verleden terug? Ook het (inter)nationale imago van Amsterdam als een multicultureel en ultra-tolerant ‘global village’ komt aan bod. Waarom is dit beeld zo persistent, en hoe heeft het zich in de loop van de laatste decennia ontwikkeld? Tot slot wordt ingegaan op de vraag hoe mondialiseringsprocessen ingrijpen in de stadscultuur, zoals in het prostitutiegebied op de Wallen en via de erfgoedindustrie. Hoe manifesteert de mondialisering zich in de stad, en welke rol speelt beeldvorming daarbij? Deze bundel vormt een rijk geschakeerd onderzoek naar de relatie tussen Amsterdam, mondialisering en stedelijke beeldvorming. Marco de Waard is als docent literatuurwetenschap verbonden aan het Amsterdam University College.