User:Emilyzorro/Choose an Article

Article Selection
Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

 * Article title
 * Kitsch


 * Article Evaluation
 * The article is pretty sparce and doesn't "include all significant viewpoints," about "kitsch" according to the disclaimer at the top of the page. I found the idea of "kitsch" interesting and I'm interested in adding to the article just because it will allow me to explore the idea and learn about the different viewpoints surrounding it. I did some research already, and it seems that there are intense debates around the term, which doesn't exactly come through on the page. For such a controversial term, you would think its Wikipedia page would be much more developed.
 * It also doesn't include enough examples of things that were described as "Kitsch" in history, or how it related to political ideologies and governments. One of the most interesting things about the idea of "kitsch" to me is that it exists in any form of government. It would be cool to include a section about "Socialist Realism" kitsch and "Capitalist Realism" kitsch (For example - advertisements), as well as maybe the "kitsch" art that was made under the Nazi regime in Germany, the country where the term originated. After doing more research I'm sure I could find more examples of this. Wikipedia has an alert above the "History" section that says it needs adding to. Perhaps would be cool to go through time periods and identify certain types of art people considered kitsch.
 * It also doesn't really include much about kitsch's counterpart, avant-garde. At least a mention about avant garde would be interesting, I think. Though Clement Greenberg's article "Avant Garde and Kitsch" is linked at the bottom, it sometimes helps to understand a topic by understanding what the opposite is.


 * Sources
 * - Ways of Seeing, John Berger, Chapter 7 This chapter discusses how advertisements use societal norms and ideals, which do not accurately represent reality, to get people to feel envy and buy things. He doesn't describe them here specifically using the term "kitsch" but I'm sure that people have described them that way, and it could be worth looking into people who had made this argument
 * - Kitsch: History, Theory, Practice - by Monica Kjellman-Chapin . This book's chapters are filled with essays from many writers with a take on what is classified as "kitsch." One of the essays is called "Stop Using Kitsch as a Weapon: Kitsch and Racism," and another is called "9/11 as a Schmaltz Attractor: A Coda on the Significance of Kitsch." These could be really interesting perspectives to add to the page, as it suffers from a lack of diverse perspectives on kitsch. I would need to verify their relevance/importance before adding them!
 * - "Socialist Realisms", Christina Kiaer

Option 2

 * Article title
 * Climate Change in China


 * Article Evaluation
 * Much of this article's content has to do with China's emissions and policies, but nowhere on the page is there mention of grassroots environmental action in China. I don't know much about environmental activism in China, but I would like to know more. Even if I find that environmental dissent isn't allowed to the extent that it is in the United States, I think it would still be worth including. The hegemonic narrative about China is very top-down, and I think the world would benefit from knowing about people in China who are trying to make a change in their communities from the bottom up. Additionally, there is not a page for "Environmental movement in China," and if in my research I find that the environmental movement is significant enough, I could make a new page.


 * Sources
 * - China and the Environment : the Green Revolution.
 * - Environmental Activism in China

Option 3

 * Article title
 * Climate change in the United States


 * Article Evaluation
 * Similarly to the China page, there is no mention of climate activism in the United States, even though there has been an a huge movement worldwide and in the United States to oppose greenhouse gas emissions. In September of 2020 the world saw the largest environmental protest in history, and there is no mention of this on the Wikipedia page about it. There is value in affirming the importance of grassroots movements' impact on national and global decision-making. While there is a "Public opinion about climate change" section, it just states the percentage of people who believe climate change is real. The lack of reporting on grassroots movement portrays ordinary people as powerless, even though many people are taking actions to make changes.


 * Sources
 * - “School Strike 4 Climate”: Social Media and the International Youth Protest on Climate Change
 * - Strike! by Jeremy Brecher - This book, written by historian Jeremy Brecher, is an account of the history of labor strikes in the United States, including a section about climate strikes which students and labor unions both participated in.

Option 4

 * Article title
 * Socialist realism


 * Article Evaluation
 * The article discusses examples of artists and countries which produced socialist realist art and how the structure was repressive. However, one thing I found missing on the page was a discussion of how women were depicted in Social Realist art in comparison to the Western capitalist forms of art in which women have historically been the "object" at which the male painter and the audience gazes. There also is nothing about women's participation in the creation of Soviet art, something which Kiaer discussed in her piece as part of the "lateral" aspect that made Socialist realism unique in its early years. As I do research I may find more information about women's depiction and participation in Socialist Realist art, but either way I think it'd be an important and interesting addition to the page. Most of the articles I've found about this so far have been about the USSR, but I could definitely do some more digging to see how women were portrayed in Socialist Realist art in other countries like Vietnam and China. I would also want to add some pictures -- an art page should include more photos and paintings in my opinion!


 * Sources
 * - Susan E. Reid - All Stalin's Women: Gender and Power in Soviet Art of the 1930s
 * - "Socialist Realisms", Christina Kiaer
 * - Katrin Kivimaa - Images of Women as the Signifiers of the Soviet and National Identity in Estonian Socialist Realist Painting and Graphic Art
 * - Alexander Adams - Women as Creators and Subjects in Soviet Art

Option 5

 * Article title
 * Aleksandr Deineka


 * Article Evaluation
 * The article has a brief description of this Socialist realist artist's life, but there are no pictures of his art, and no analyses besides that his art exemplifies the style of Socialist realism. I think it would be cool to add some photos of his art, and also include a discussion of his trip to the United States and portrayal of African-Americans. There was critical reception of his paintings because some viewed them as anti-racist, while others viewed them as essentializing or voyueristic. This could be especially interesting given the tense relationship between the US and the Soviet Union & how both countries sought to undermine the other's public image during the Cold War.


 * Sources
 * - Christina Kiaer - African Americans in Soviet Socialist Realism: The Case of Aleksandr Deineka