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Popular Culture Review
of the message of remembrance, primarily, have changed the language and the
meaning that have traditionally been associated with certain lexical items.
The manner in which older cultural forms are reinterpreted in new ways is
closely allied with the idea of power. Power, according to Barker and
Galasinski, is productive of the self that enables some kinds of knowledge and
identities to exist while denying it to others (57). Cultural politics as power can
be seen regarding the ownership claimed by messengers who place their
message on T-shirts in the way that they impose new meanings on words. When
a message on a T-shirt states Only the Good Die Young, the messenger has
claimed ownership of the word “good” and perhaps the qualifier “only” as a way
of taking charge of these units of language.
T-shirts and Cultural Identity
In addition to cultural politics, Baker and Galasinski find that identity also
accompanies cultural politics. Here, too, the use of language is a tool for
establishing identity. Identity, according to these analysts, is referred to as a
“cut” in language (43). In assuming cultural identity, concepts (e.g., class,
ethnicity, self) cannot be extended. There must be a temporary closure if some
common agreement on identity is to be achieved. The term “cut” is used
primarily by Hall in that individuals must construct a temporary halt in the openended manner in which meaning is achieved. Hall considers discourse and
identity as part of the open-ended manner of arriving at meaning. It does not
mean, however, that meaning is open-ended. There must be an element of
closure for meaning to be achieved. For those who compose the language of
remembrance noted on T-shirts, there must be an agreed upon definition of
certain expressions. For the message Only the Good Die Young, this statement
must include a cut or some constraint regarding such terms as “good” or
“young.” In short, there are boundaries to those words. Cultural identity is
associated with cultural politics in that it gives individuals the power to name
and the power to legitimate the social world (Barker and Galasinski 56)
On a related topic, Carmen Fought has pointed out that, cultural identity, as
it pertains to language, is also accomplished through a social process, involving
the interaction with members of an in-group or with members of an out-group.
Cultural identity, as she further notes, does not take place in a vacuum or inside
the individual’s head (35-37). The language on a T-shirt that states Only the
Good Die Young makes the point that the messenger takes into account those
members who are considered as part of the in-group in that they share certain
experiences and have a worldview similar to that of the messenger. In addition,
the message, if carefully examined, should reach to others outside the group. For
example, a message that states Rest Peacefully conveys a shared perspective
from messenger to audience. After all, meaning is the final aim of messages sent
by writers to readers.