ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1, I outlined how the interpretation of culture can be an exercise in which culture is ‘something to be mastered cognitively, as a meaning’ (Bauman 1992: 23). I argued that this interpretative process is performative – subjects are not preformed entities but rather are formed in the very process of engaging with culture. What, then, is the significance of advertising within this cultural context, and in what sense might advertising mediate individuality? What role does advertising play in the commercial circulation of cultural meanings about target markets of consumers? How does it establish a context within which viewers engage in practices of interpretation?
