Cultural Studies Flashcards
Different Meanings of Culture
Name four approaches
- traditional approach
- neutral approach
- culture of particular nation
- different cultures within a nation
Traditional approach
-definition and critic
- culture as growing towards perfection
- critic: brings about value judgements:
- one culture is “better” than another
- one person/ society has got “more culture” than another
> This approach is not neutral
- connection to power structures in society
- some have more power to decide what counts as culture
- power to exclude people, that they consider less “cultured”
Neutral approach
-definiton and critic
- a particular realm where human creativity expresses itself / humanity’s creative output
- literature, art, music, film…
- Example: Ministry of Culture
> rather descriptive and non-judgmental approach
Still, equating culture with art ultimately passes by much
other cultural activity.
Culture of a particular nation
- definition
- culture as a ‘whole way of life’: encompassing all activities/practices of all members of society
> open, inclusive, no value judgements
Different cultures within a nation
- differentiation between different cultures within society
- paying attention to the ways in which people can be different from each other: gender, ‘race’/ethnicity, class, age-group, region of origin …
> attempt at celebrating difference, drawing attention to power imbalances because of difference(s)
Relevance for Cultural Studies
- Traditional approach
- rejected/ questioned by Cultural Studies - Neutral Usage
(- is also part of what Cultural Studies analyse) - Culture of a Particular Nation & 4. Different Cultures within one nation
- particularly relevant to Cultural studies-
T.S. Eliot “The Three Senses of Culture”
Hirachy: Culture of a whole society is valued higher than individual culture
- Culture of a whole society
- Culture of a group or class
- Culture of the individual
> Interdependence: achnowledges the individual activities and practices contributing to culture
Eliot uses ‘culture’ more openly than the traditional approach but is still fairly critical of the expansion of the term ‘culture’.
Simon During: Definition of Culture Studies
How can we define Cultural Studies?
• Cultural Studies are “engaged”
What does this ‘engagement’ mean more concretely?
1. “political, critical”
> try to uncover injustice, power-imbalances, hierarchies leading to inequality and exclusion
2. “[aim] to enhance and celebrate cultural experience”
> communicating enjoyment in cultural variety and encouraging everyone to take part
3. “[aim] to deal with culture as part of everyday life”
> open to all forms culture can take
Cultural Studies approach to culture
Culture Studies use “culture” in an open, broad sende
- Culture of a particular nation: “a whole way of life”
- Different Cultures Within one Nation: differences between people or groups of people
Key characteristics to Culture Studies
- attention to power structures and social inequalities resulting from them
- promoting enjoyment of culture
- view of culture as open to outside influences/ globalisation
- broad, inclusive view of culture
- attention to diversity within (apperent) unity
- no value judgement
- interest in the individual and its contributions to culture/ individual identity formation
Personal identity
Definition:
- sense of self/ sense of who we are and how we relate to others
> shaped by culture, society, the family, peer groups…
> Factors such as gender, class, ethicity, age, sexuality, religion etc. are important for identity formation, too.
The way these categories are understood is strongly influenced by culture and society, including the family, peer groups etc.
Criterion of difference
all the ways in which people can be different from each other (e.g. in terms of age, gender, class, ethnicity..)
Criterion of sameness
all the way in which people can be similar (sharing certain tastes, abilities, emotions, opinions, attitudes …)
Traditional notion of identiy
-“essentialist”
-This means that identity is seen as naturally given, fixed and unchangeable.
> NOT cultural studies perspective
Cultural Studies perspective on identity
Identity is not naturally given and fixed but constructed
- individual is free to choose identity/ identities (within certain limits)
- individuals can have more than one identity, depending on the context
- identity is not fixed but can be changed (element of choice)
> once identity has been constructed, it is represented (shown/ reflected) to others
Representation
- Conveying meaning to others
- part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture (Stuart Hall)
for cultural studies: once identity has been constructed, it is represented (shown/ reflected) to others
Two systems of representation (Stuart Hall)
- mental concepts we have of things we see and experience (concepts represent reality)
E.g.: cat = animal living in a house, four legs - language or other ways in which to communicate our mental concept to others (how we share our mental concepts)
E.g.: “cat”, “Katze”, picture of a cat
Language
(for cultural studies)
In a very broad way:
- spoken & written language (narrow way)
- images, fashion, music (…)
- language communicating meaning
- not naturally given and does not represent reality in a straightforward, unproblematic way
- constructed sign system: code
Code
Constructed sign system
This ‘code’ mediates between the world and the ‘mental concepts’ of it which are shared in a society.
- codes stabilize meaning as it is, thereby to some extent conventionalized
- at some point people agreed to attach certain meanings to objects/ concepts, just as they agreed to use certain words for them
- meaning has to be fixed to an extent to make communication possible
Culture
- code
Culture can then be seen as consisting of the codes shared by a particular society (here: similar perceptions of the world, creating sameness). They govern the translation between objects, concepts and language.
Identity can be (usually is) represented in certain ways
- Representation of identity does not only rely on actual language (it can: diaries (…))
- individuals use objects/ products/ practices that go beyond language in the strictest sense of the word in order to convey meaning and represent their identity
Identity can be (usually is) represented in certain ways
- system of representation
- there needs to be a certain agreement in a culture about the meanings assigned to these objects/ products/ practices
> system of representation (naturalised and fixed nature of meaning) - most of the objects/ products/ practices we come across every day are associated with rather fixed meanings and are easy to understand
> This system to some extent determines the identity positions that can be adopted
How do objects attain meaning?
(identity)
Basic difference from/ oppositions to other objects which could be used instead in the given situation
Circuit of Culture
(Stuart Hall and Paul du Gay)
- identity and its connection to representation cannot be seen in isolation, further social/ cultural/ political factors are necessary
- all elements are interrelated
- you can start at any point and go from element to element in any order
- establishes relations between culture and the economic sphere
