The Art of Self Invention - notes and summary

Finkelstein, J. (2018). The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture. 1st ed. New York: I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd.

Page 3
By the mid twentieth century, the idea of a fixed personality based on a stable mentality became increasingly untenable and the counter idea, of identity or subjectivity being an asset to be groomed and presented to best effect, had gained acceptance.

Identity is continuously restyled and invented to suit the circumstances but, at the same time, it supposedly emanates from an inner quality that universalises the human condition.

Page 13
From the mid-twentieth century onwards much of the mass media around retailing and advertising has also promoted the idea of the self as a plastic commodity.

Page 26
Such is our infatuation with the importance of the self that it means we accept the need to groom and style it. We use physical appearance and material possessions to express identity; we accept a complementary connection between inner character and our material circumstances, yet, at the same time, we like to think there are more permanent qualities that define us.

Page 28
The exploration of self invention provokes questions about our relations to the material world, to consumerism, possession and the fashion ethic, and how these have influenced the semiotics of appearance.

Page 28
What are we to make of a mass media that addresses us so effectively and appears to capture our interests so accurately? Does this induce feelings of trust in the media, or nervousness and anxiety that it is remaking us in its image?

Page 31
We learn about our selves through the reaction of others. We learn that the controlled body is a passport to sociability.

Page 97 
In such circumstances, seeking a physical makeover is more than a personal vanity, it is a sign of understanding how important the regulated physical body is perceived as being to the maintenance of an orderly society.

Page 116
By looking at the world of retail, advertising and fashion, we can see how identity has been styled into a commodity that is bought and sold in the thriving marketplace of the globalized and cosmopolitan society.

Page 132
Mauss saw the self anthropologically, as a cultural mask, performance and social role that every human irrespective of cultural background, strived to control.

Page 138
Roland Barthes refers to how we live in the world as the process that encourages 'the cunning of myself as other'.

Page 154
This is how advertisers of global products have inserted the desire for their products into our everyday life, by making it seem as if the values promoted with the products are the same values we should embrace for ourselves.

Page 160
Aspects of our identity are intimately tied to the material world and examining some of the mechanisms of marketing, the power of visuality and the allure of fashion provides insights into the charms of the object.

Page 173
The effectiveness of popular culture as a source of personal knowledge depicts the individual as transparent to the purveyors of consumer products. Identity is thus commodified and in terms commodities are infused with personality - a phenomenon that seems to make sense to us.

Page 197
Embedded in the circulation of status and identity are the pleasures of being on display, of being looked at by others, of imagining our own existence inserted into the minds eye of the other.

Page 213
Gilles Lipovetsky - the psychologizing of appearance is accompanied by the narcissistic pleasure of transforming oneself in ones own eyes and those of others

Definitions of selfhood or personal identity can be moved away from abstract attributes of morality and character towards a more material inventory of what objects an individual can own and command

summary
The self has become a commodity in recent years (due to modernity/modern society in twenty first century). Retail/advertising has amplified this through fashion/beauty products - using celebrities and models who consumers aspire to look like. Looks and presentation has overtaken character and morals in terms of identity. People are also far more concerned with others opinions of them - Finkelstein refers to status - status which can be achieved through material purchases and ownership of these material goods. Shows the rise of consumerism and capitalism in recent times. The media is mentioned alongside the issue of trust, Finkelstein subtly hints towards the fact the media may be corrupt and misleading. Also links to narcissism, Freud has touched on this.