The black, white and gray of life

I'm becoming profoundly interested in doing macro-analysis of dominant discourses in western life. I have had a hard time, though, articulating to people what I mean by this concept. Saying it this way tends to get me blank stares.

But now, after having burned through half of Hewitt's amazing! book, Dilemmas of the American Self, I have found a simpatico soul who has enabled me to put into words what it is I want to do, in a way that people should "get it"

Hewitt argues for the need for less polarized theories of culture, self and society. He argues that, while Americans live life on a balancing beam somewhere in the middle of the continuum between communaltiy and individuality, they talk about themselves, others, and their society in a polarized way. His aim in the book is to show that this is what happens, and to highlight the fallacies of various social theorists who, themselves, contribute to this polarization.

What Hewitt has done in this book is exactly what I want to set out to do with regards to digital culture and consumer culture. I want to examine, analyze, articulate and be critical of the polarized discourses around digital life and consumer culture. I want articulate how life is actually lived, and push for more theories that deal with life in this more nuanced area.

Now I can frame my interest by saying:

Life is lived in the gray, but talked about as if it were black and white.

Too bad Hewitt has retired - he might have made a very interesting grad school adviser. But it has got me looking seriously at UMass Amherst as a school.