'The Notorious' Conor Mcgregor Darren Kelsey
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Darren Kelsey is Head of Media, Culture, Heritage in the School of CONTRIBUTOR Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University. He researches mythology and ideology in contemporary media, culture and politics. His recent monograph, Media and Affective Mythologies, synergises approaches to critical discourse studies with the work of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and other mythologists. His psycho-discursive approach explores the depths of the human psyche to analyse the affective qualities of storytelling. AFFECTIVE MYTHOLOGY AND ‘THE NOTORIOUS’ CONOR MCGREGOR MONOMYTH, MYSTICISM AND MIXED MARTIAL ARTS DARREN KELSEY DOI ABSTRACT 10.18573/mas.47 There are many ways in which we can interpret the sporting, commercial and personal success of Conor McGregor whose stories, fights and social appearances are analysed in this paper. There are archetypal traits of the hero and the trickster in McGregor’s journey, persona, legacy, and the semiosis that KEYWORDs surrounds him through the myth of the fighting Irish, all of which I consider as affective mythologies in their psycho-discursive Conor McGregor; affective mythologies; forms. Prior to this analysis, I revisit the discourse-mythological mixed martial arts; archetypes; consciousness. approach (DMA) whilst accounting for the psycho-discursive framework I developed to analyse affective mythologies. However, I found recurring mystical qualities which called for the expansion of this analytical framework. By analysing the myth CITATION of the law of attraction, I argue that a non-reductive materialist approach to mind and consciousness is necessary due to the role Kelsey, Darren. 2017. ‘Affective of mysticism and ideology in popular culture. Since the study of Mythology and “The Notorious” martial arts requires attention to cultural, political, economic, Conor McGregor: Monomyth, commercial, psychological, biological and transpersonal Mysticism and Mixed Martial Arts’, phenomena, this paper encourages more radical interdisciplinarity Martial Arts Studies 5, 15-35. between cultural studies and biological sciences to develop innovative theorisations of culture, ideology and consciousness. MARTIAL Affective Mythology and ‘The Notorious’ ARTS STUDIES Conor McGregor Darren Kelsey ‘A good fight should be like a small play, archetypal traits of the hero and the trickster in McGregor’s journey, but played seriously’ rhetoric, embodiment, persona, cultural and personal legacies, and the Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon semiosis that surrounds him. These elements form part of the stories he has told and the stories that have been told about him. Those stories are Introduction theorised in this paper through an analysis of affective mythology. Mayweather versus McGregor Prior to the analysis, I outline the theoretical and analytical position I On 12th December 2015, Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 adopt in the McGregor case study. I recap the discourse-mythological seconds to become the undisputed UFC Featherweight Champion. Less approach (DMA) whilst accounting for the psycho-discursive than one year later, McGregor took the Lightweight title from Eddie framework I developed to analyse affective mythologies [Kelsey 2017]. Alvarez to become the first UFC fighter to hold belts in two different However, amongst the semiotic and archetypal material in this analysis, weight classes concurrently. McGregor has since become arguably the I found recurring mythical and mystical qualities (such as visualisation biggest star in the UFC. With his boxing skills being a key strength in and the law of attraction), which called for the expansion of my his MMA style, he challenged Floyd Mayweather to a boxing match. analytical framework. Hence, I introduce non-reductive materialism Mayweather was regarded by many as the greatest boxer of all time with as a philosophical position to understand how the psycho-discursive a record of 49-0, and he came out of retirement to accept McGregor’s mechanisms of metaphor and externalisation operate through affective challenge. Given the fact that McGregor had never professionally mythologies. By taking a non-reductive materialist approach, this competed as a boxer, many dismissed this as a ridiculous spectacle and paper will enhance the scope of the analytical framework I adopt in a cynical cash grab. Whilst the fight did generate over $100 million my research on affective mythologies. In conclusion, I will argue that for each fighter, with Mayweather thought to have earned over $300 a non-reductive materialist approach to mind and consciousness is million, there was far more than money at stake: The reputations of necessary due to the manner in which forms of mysticism and ideology both fighters and their respective sports were on the line. The fight was recurrently operate through forms of popular culture. But before I attended by over 13,000 spectators and purchased as a pay-per- view cover the analytical framework that is adopted in the case study, I will event by millions of viewers worldwide – making it one of the highest discuss visualisation and the law of attraction in relation to McGregor. grossing fights of all time. Just the pre-fight press conferences alone were attended by countless fans, including thousands of Irish fans who Visualisation and the Law of Attraction travelled to see McGregor. After an impressive start to the fight from McGregor, Mayweather showed his poise and his class, winning via The Secret [see Byrne 2006] is a film and book claiming to point to stoppage in the 10th round. For many, McGregor had performed well a force that exists in the universe through which visualisation and and exceeded expectations. Despite losing, there was a wide level of positive thinking will attract (magnetise) good fortune. This concept respect for McGregor’s having taken on such a challenge (when some has influenced McGregor’s personal philosophy and is often present in critics had said he would be unable to land a single punch) and being his rhetoric. It often operates through the persona he has constructed competitive in the ring with Mayweather. and the archetypal qualities of his story. The law of attraction (positive visualisation) is a metaphor that is used to enable a positive and focused How had McGregor become so popular? What did he symbolise and mind-set. A materialist approach to mind and consciousness, which how had his ‘greatness’ become so widely recognised beyond MMA and I will discuss later, means there is no external entity being attracted the UFC, especially in his home country of Ireland? As Joe Rogan said to an individual through positive thoughts. That said, whilst the law early on in McGregor’s career: of attraction might be fantastical in terms of its mystical claims about the universe, the metaphorical, affective qualities for those who use There’s some wild brash dude out of Ireland that was kicking this myth to focus their mind are real; it provides a mind-set for people’s asses and doing it in spectacular fashion … He’s got that individuals to feel positively empowered and in control. Its externalised, thing, whatever it is. He’s got talent, obviously he’s got speed, metaphorical form is necessary in order to stimulate its internal affect. excellent striking technique, excellent wrestling and jiu-jitsu, Like religious metaphor, it serves its own mythological purpose but he’s also got that thing. It’s hard to figure out what that through the affective qualities that it resonates with in the psyche (a thing is but you know when people have it. Jungian concept of the psyche that I will return to shortly). The myth [https://youtu.be/91liSjahuNw] of the law of attraction only becomes a fallacy when it transforms from metaphor to literalism. McGregor, for his part, often refers to the law of There are many ways in which we can interpret the sporting, attraction in both metaphorical and literal terms. commercial and personal success of McGregor. There are distinct 16 Winter 2017 MARTIAL Affective Mythology and ‘The Notorious’ ARTS STUDIES Conor McGregor Darren Kelsey In cases such as The Secret, as well as in the rhetoric of other Discourse-mythological approach (DMA) motivational speakers, we see how the literalism of metaphor functions as a vehicle for ideology, as economic and social narratives that try to In previous work, I designed DMA to analyse discursive constructions naturalise cultural conditions through dualist concepts of a greater of myth in news stories [Kelsey 2015]. Initially, DMA was not a psycho- power or entity in the universe. Through the motivational talks of discursive framework. More recently, I adapted it to analyse the psycho- Tony Robbins, for example, Robbins refers to the law of attraction as discursive mechanisms of other media and cultural texts [Kelsey 2017]. one reason why the rich get richer and the poor are poor – because This section will provide an overview of the DMA framework in order the poor have not discovered the law of attraction [https://youtu. to familiarise readers with its terminology and analytical grounding. be/YISTfOo-R4I]. In The Secret, it is reported that a gay man who was being bullied and intimidated because of his sexuality changed Discourse, mythology and ideology, though overlapping terms, must his mind-set and experienced an immediate change in circumstance nevertheless be distinguished [Bottici 2007; Flood 2002]. As Flood because of the law of attraction and positive visualisation. These are the points out, failure to define the concept of discourse within theoretical kinds of examples