lecture 11 Flashcards
what is the definition of culture?
the way of life
what are 3 elements in culture?
- the value people hold
- the norms people follow
- the material objects people use
what is the meaning of interrelated?
material objects and urban landscapes give information about values and norms, and they have meaning through the way people put them to use
what is the key word in cultural studies?
representation
how to study urban culture?
- iconography
- discourse analysis
what is iconography?
the study of meanings behind urban landscape, buildings, sculptures, photographs, film etc
what is the discourse analysis?
texts, writing or spoken language
what is the concept of discourse?
a set of shared understandings
what are the two key themes?
- diversity and difference (subcultures or deviant subcultures)
- identity (the way people view themselves)
what are 2 characteristics of the key theme diversity and difference?
- focus on urban subcultures that are radically different
- shared values (discourse) and ways of representation of such cultures
what are 2 characteristics of the key theme identity?
- identity formation
- subjectivity is central (how people define themselves and how do others define them)
what is identity formation?
the way that identities are shaped by many factors
what theory is an important approach of the identity studies?
postcolonial theory
why is the postcolonial theory an important approach of identity studies?
- response to western representations of non western cities and societies
- response to ethnocentrism
what is ethnocentrism?
the notion that western thought is superior
what did edward said say in orentalism?
- the notion of the orient is a western inventation
- false ideas about the west rational and civilized and the orient as primitive
- the view of colonizer and not of the colonized
what is the post colonial theory?
- undermine the idea that one culture is superior
- all cultures are mixtures
- no pure, basic, underlying culture
what is the meaning of hybridity?
all cultures are mixtures
what is the meaning of authenticity?
no pure, basic, underlying culture
what do cultural studies and postcolonial theory emphatize?
that cultures are social constructed
what did benedict anderson say in imagined communities?
- national identities are socially constructed
- identification with the state involves the use of imagination
- imaginations are produced by media
what is the result of power and authority?
the social construction of culture
what did foucault say about the carceral city?
- the social construction of culture is the result of power and authority
- power is a process, that exists through the recognition of the others
- discourses are a crucial component in the exercise of power
what does carceral mean?
relating to or the nature of a prison
what is the carceral city?
a coextensive web of disciplinary technologies through which citizens are shaped and surveilled.
- cities are disciplinairy societies
- city dwellers are confined by controlling mechanisms
why are some peeple excluded from public spaces?
code of behavior or culture
what is the result of space of exclusion?
spaces reinforce culture and power relations
what is postmodernism?
recent cultural shift in cities and urban studies, study of culture to understand language and discourse in urban settings
- opposed to structuralist approach
- not one underlying mechanism/structure, but numerous shifting variables
- urban divisions and inequality reflected in forms of representation, such as language, clothing, music etc.
what are the central features of postmodernism?
- there is no one true experience
- all experiences are mediated through cultural values
- those values are embodied in language or other forms of representation
representation involves shared meanings
what is discourse?
representations involve shared meaning
why has postmodernism heavily disputed?
- it lacks coherence; there is no clear definition or underlying theory
- it is meaningless, because it does not offer analytical or empirical knowledge
- postmodernists are not looking for objective findings or the truth
what is the meaning of corporeality?
the state of being or having a body
what is cultural turn?
a movement in the 1970s to make culture the focus of contemporary debates, interest in the role of peoples bodies:
- the body is used as a metaphor to describe the city
- bodily appearance and dress important signals about culture and social values
what are recent popular movements?
- migrants and refugees right to the city
- womens right to the city
- gender and sexual diversity
what does Lefebre say about right to the city?
spatial relations are produced and contested within cities. a call to action by social movements to demand access to urban life
what does david harvey say about right to the city?
- the right to individual freedom and acces to urban sources
- tje right to change the city
how do cities create and reflect gender roles?
- socially constructed differences between men and womes
- reflection of a system of patriarchy
- urban spaces reflects such patriarchal patterns
what does urban freedom, diversity and tolerance in?
subcultures in cities
why is prostitution associated with urban life?
- cities provide more sexual freedom
- large numbers of prostitution in cities
- urban context important: maritime cities
