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Here are the image hand-outs I distributed in class; the first, a collection of stereotypical references and iconography of Newcastle reinforced in popular culture.<\/p>\n
‘Geordieness’<\/a><\/p>\n Images taken from:<\/p>\n Official Ant and Dec. com<\/a><\/p>\n NewcastleGateshead.com<\/a><\/p>\n A Touch Far Vetched fan Blog – NUFC image<\/a><\/p>\n NorthernCulture Blog<\/a><\/p>\n The Chronicle Live (local newspaper)<\/a><\/p>\n The NUFC Blog<\/a><\/p>\n Amber Films website (local film studio)<\/a><\/p>\n The second, a collection of photos I took during research fieldwork in 2011, representing something of the reality of Newcastle (at that time)<\/p>\n research findings<\/a><\/p>\n What I was hoping to illustrate here, were how representations in popular media about Newcastle, construct and rely on stereotypes and caricatures (eg. the old steep cobbled streets of Byker, the landmark Tyne Bridge. There’s a familiarity\u00a0about these images,\u00a0which is part of the reason we except them and continue to refer to them as ‘standing for’ Newcastle.<\/p>\n The selection of photographs I took during fieldwork, observing, making notes and walking around Newcastle, shows some similarities to the first hand-out, so Cruddus Park housing block for example, communal living at least, not being dissimilar from the image of\u00a0bygone Byker. However, the\u00a0Polish caf\u00e9 sign, and the ‘To let’ board\u00a0in Chinese Mandarin, speak of a more culturally diverse Newcastle than the one being persistently portrayed in\u00a0popular culture.<\/p>\n If you’re interested in this relationship between Popular Culture, Representation and the City take a look at the work of Grieves (1985). While some of the cultural references in this thesis are outdated, the theoretical framework of the piece is still very relevant.<\/p>\n Grieves, James<\/span>\u00a0(1985)\u00a0Popular culture and public order: an empirical investigation into socio-cultural relationships in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.<\/em>\u00a0Doctoral thesis, Durham University.<\/p>\n To finish then, take a look at the opening theme tune of popular BBC children’s drama from the 1980s, Geordie Racer<\/em> <\/a>(BBC Look and Read series, BBC Two, 1988, dir. David Meldrum). The city of Newcastle Upon Tyne was an integral feature of the show, a show which was incidentally praised as presenting a ‘grittier’ image of everyday family like to children’s television programming. What might this say about Newcastle’s (mis)place (ment) in popular culture? The iconic and rousing images of The Great North Run <\/a> moving across the Tyne Bridge, against the traditional working class pastime of pigeon racing…<\/p>\n