Political Correctness Analysis
1. TITLE
Political Correctness through the lens of South Park
2. INTRODUCTION
Political correctness is the idea of obligation or conformism in areas which should be (or are) matters of choice (Hughes, p.4, 2011). “It has had a major influence on what is regarded as “acceptable” or “appropriate” in language, ideas, behavioural norms, and values” (Hughes. G, p.4, 2011). As political correctness and PC culture becomes the norm, overcorrecting culture becomes a more prevalent issue. Overcorrecting culture affects many facets of culture but the most at risk is humour. In today’s social media climate, one person’s outrage can go viral in a matter of seconds (Burr. B, 2011). This outrage culture affects humour the most as outrage culture forgets …show more content…
This concept is key in analysing PC culture. This view is shared similarly by Hughes (2011) in his work Political Correctness: A History of Semantics and Culture. Both scholars agree on how Political Correctness has changed recent culture and semantics. Schulzke’s (2012) work on South Park’s language, yielded interesting results as to how it has evolved over its 20 year run. This will useful in analysing how South Park has adapted to changes in discourse previously. Schulzke’s work followed a qualitative interpretive methodology, which resulted in an ethnographic approach to research. Weinstock’s ‘Taking South Park Seriously’ (2008) similarly follows a qualitative interpretive methodology. This yielded yet another ethnographic approach rich in data and theory. It revealed a close reading analysis of South Park, showing meta-commentaries that reveal an evolution in the show. Supporting such data with theory. This project adopts a similar approach to research and research methodology. This study aims to analyse how South Park has been able to adapt in order to combat political correctness. This project aims to highlight how the shows constant reinvention has allowed it to strive under these new
Political Correctness through the lens of South Park
2. INTRODUCTION
Political correctness is the idea of obligation or conformism in areas which should be (or are) matters of choice (Hughes, p.4, 2011). “It has had a major influence on what is regarded as “acceptable” or “appropriate” in language, ideas, behavioural norms, and values” (Hughes. G, p.4, 2011). As political correctness and PC culture becomes the norm, overcorrecting culture becomes a more prevalent issue. Overcorrecting culture affects many facets of culture but the most at risk is humour. In today’s social media climate, one person’s outrage can go viral in a matter of seconds (Burr. B, 2011). This outrage culture affects humour the most as outrage culture forgets …show more content…
This concept is key in analysing PC culture. This view is shared similarly by Hughes (2011) in his work Political Correctness: A History of Semantics and Culture. Both scholars agree on how Political Correctness has changed recent culture and semantics. Schulzke’s (2012) work on South Park’s language, yielded interesting results as to how it has evolved over its 20 year run. This will useful in analysing how South Park has adapted to changes in discourse previously. Schulzke’s work followed a qualitative interpretive methodology, which resulted in an ethnographic approach to research. Weinstock’s ‘Taking South Park Seriously’ (2008) similarly follows a qualitative interpretive methodology. This yielded yet another ethnographic approach rich in data and theory. It revealed a close reading analysis of South Park, showing meta-commentaries that reveal an evolution in the show. Supporting such data with theory. This project adopts a similar approach to research and research methodology. This study aims to analyse how South Park has been able to adapt in order to combat political correctness. This project aims to highlight how the shows constant reinvention has allowed it to strive under these new