Date of Award
Spring 2023
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Media & Communication; College of Arts & Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. Lisa Holderman
Abstract
Hauntology is a relatively new concept born out of the current state of late capitalism, wherein it has become increasingly common for new releases of popular culture, art, and media to appease the societal desire to return to the past. First coined by Jacques Derrida in his book Specters of Marx, the term “Hauntology” was used to describe the phenomenon of the “death” of communism and how the capitalist powers that “killed” it essentially made the idea of communism immortal. They made it a specter, and ghosts cannot die. This concept was then altered by the late Mark Fisher, who considers both the political and economic side as well as the cultural side of a neoliberal capitalist society. In his book Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology, and Lost Futures, Fisher furthers his theories on the meaning of hauntology and the cancellation of the future by applying these concepts to various media important to him and his youth in England.
This essay synthesizes the scholarship surrounding past and present definitions of hauntology to build a common understanding of the concept. Then, with that understanding in mind, it thoroughly examines the life and music of the late Mac Miller. Through Miller’s music, it is determined that hauntology is still present in modern popular culture and the tragic deaths of both Fisher and Miller act as proof of the very real effects of neoliberal capitalism’s control of art, media, and creativity as a whole.
Recommended Citation
Hiemenz, Ryan, "So It Goes: Hauntology, Lost Futures, and Mac Miller" (2023). Capstone Showcase. 1.
https://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/showcase/2023/media_communication/1
Included in
Economic Theory Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons, Other Music Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons
So It Goes: Hauntology, Lost Futures, and Mac Miller
Hauntology is a relatively new concept born out of the current state of late capitalism, wherein it has become increasingly common for new releases of popular culture, art, and media to appease the societal desire to return to the past. First coined by Jacques Derrida in his book Specters of Marx, the term “Hauntology” was used to describe the phenomenon of the “death” of communism and how the capitalist powers that “killed” it essentially made the idea of communism immortal. They made it a specter, and ghosts cannot die. This concept was then altered by the late Mark Fisher, who considers both the political and economic side as well as the cultural side of a neoliberal capitalist society. In his book Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology, and Lost Futures, Fisher furthers his theories on the meaning of hauntology and the cancellation of the future by applying these concepts to various media important to him and his youth in England.
This essay synthesizes the scholarship surrounding past and present definitions of hauntology to build a common understanding of the concept. Then, with that understanding in mind, it thoroughly examines the life and music of the late Mac Miller. Through Miller’s music, it is determined that hauntology is still present in modern popular culture and the tragic deaths of both Fisher and Miller act as proof of the very real effects of neoliberal capitalism’s control of art, media, and creativity as a whole.