Based upon the discussion we had in class last week, develop a heuristic for analysis (you can create one you’ll use in your project) and apply it to an artifact of your choosing. Post this in your blog by Tues.

Figure 1. Gay Cat in its original form

I’ve developed the following heuristic using concepts from both visual rhetoric and queer theory. It is based on research that will contribute to my project for this course and, ultimately, my thesis research. I’ve applied it to the Gay Cat smiley that appears on ATRL, which you can see above.

R. Barthes (1977) proposes that images have three components: the linguistic message, the connoted image (symbolic message), and a denoted image (literal message). The linguistic message focuses on any present text that anchors or relays. The connoted image refers to meaning that we infer. The denoted image refers to meaning that is “simply there” due to the literal construction of the image. The idea of a denoted meaning is itself a false construct, but this concept allows an artifact to simply “be,” if we do not bother to look for any connotations. To quote Barthes:

[T]he absence of code disintellectualizes the message because it seems to found in nature the signs of culture. This is without doubt an important historical paradox: the more technology develops the diffusion of information (and notably of images), the more it provides the means of masking the constructed meaning under the appearance of the given meaning. (159-160)

Through understanding the construct of the denoted image, we can now look at two principles of design and apply them to Gay Cat. The first is its anthropomorphic form (Lidwell, et al., 2010, p. 26). Simply put, this refers to how an artifact resembles people through its shape and construction. As the cat stands on two legs, walks in spiked-heel boots, and dons a smile that closely resembles that of a person, we can see that the smiley is anthropomorphized.

The simplicity in the design of Gay Cat contributes to our understanding of the smiley as anthropomorphized, and also ties into its stickiness. This concept of design refers to the ability for an artifact (or idea) to remain within the cultural consciousness (Lidwell, et al., 2010, p. 228). (While Gay Cat might not be a prevalent figure in popular culture overall, members of the ATRL community regularly use and manipulate the smiley; as the forum threads on ATRL are the focus of my research, we can regard the smiley as having stickiness in its specific culture.)

The other aspects of stickiness are surprise, concreteness, credibility, emotion, and story. Seeing such a figure as peculiar as Gay Cat certainly contributes to the element of surprise. The idea of credibility can have at least two specific meanings here: inclination toward homosexuality in animals, and anthropomorphized creatures. If we look at the first meaning, then, yes, we have seen evidence of homosexual activity in the animal world, and the smiley is therefore credible. However, the idea of an anthropomorphized cat existing, regardless of activity, is absurd. Emotion, referring to an artifact’s ability to elicit an emotional reaction, would draw on how people feel about homosexual expression in regard to Gay Cat. Story refers to how an artifact might be contextualized into, well, a story. While several members of the ATRL community have offered theories about the origin of Gay Cat (a popular manga, for instance), the smiley itself is attached to no specific story. Additionally, Gay Cat lacks any form of concreteness; its debatable credibility, varied emotional reactions, and lack of story contribute to the lack of concreteness.

This gap in the stickiness factor leads to the question, why do members of the ATRL community make such frequent use of the Gay Cat smiley, then? I argue that it is its lack of definite meaning that contributes to its popularity. Even though the smiley is described as “gay,” the lack of definition attached to the smiley allows members of the ATRL community to use it in a variety of ways, to subvert an already subversive smiley.

We can address R. Belk’s (1988) concept of the extended self and his (2013) addition of the digital extended self. The extended self refers to how we see our physical possessions as extensions of ourselves. Belk later expanded this concept to refer to our digital possessions and identities. If we can agree on a concrete definition for an artifact, members of a community lose their ability to freely use the artifact in constructing their own identities.

We can now address how queer theory is at work here. I should note that this is different than gay/lesbian criticism. Drawing from theoretical frameworks like deconstruction and feminism, queer theory refuses the notion of fixed identities and the construct of the gender binary. In other words, identity is a performance and an ongoing process. In ATRL members’ subversive use(s) of the Gay Cat smiley, we see queer theory taking hold in online spaces.

Through what we see in its “denoted image,” Gay Cat detaches itself from any definite meaning, and allows members of the ATRL community to enact their digital extended selves, to fill in the gaps. We can apply this heuristic to emojis and other smileys; such a heuristic particularly benefits research on artifacts that represent subalterns.

Sources
Barthes, R. (1977). The Rhetoric of the Image. In Handa, C. (ed.), Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook (152-163). New York: Bedford, St. Martin’s.

Belk, R. (1988). Possessions and the Extended Self. The Journal of Consumer Research, 15, 139-168.

Belk, R. (2013). Extended Self in a Digital World. Journal of Consumer Research, 40, 477-500.

Lidwell, W., et al. (2010). Universal Principles of Design: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers.