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Cultural Studies > rot markiert > Flashcards

rot markiert Flashcards

1
Q

Value judgments

A
  • one cultural product is better than another
  • one person/ society has got ‘more culture’ than another

(1. traditional approach)

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2
Q

Culture

A

Culture Studies uses ‘culture’ in an open broad sense
- 3. Culture of a particular nation
- 4. Different Cultures within one nation

-attention to power structures and social inequalities resulting from them
-promoting enjoyment of culture
-as open to outside influences/ globalisation

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3
Q

Power structures

A

in society
- Some people/ groups of people have more power to decide what counts as ‘cultured’
- these groups have the power to exclude people/ groups considered less ‘cultured’

(1. traditional approach)

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4
Q

difference

A

Criterion of Difference
- all the ways in which people can be different from each other (e.g. in terms of age, gender, class, ethnicity …)
- distinguishing oneself from others

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5
Q

sameness

A

Criterion of Sameness
- all the ways in which people can be similar (e.g. sharing certain tastes, abilities, emotions …)
- affiliating oneself with certain group(s)

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6
Q

constructed

A

not naturally given but constructed (by society)
Cultural Studies
- various elements of social and cultural characteristics were/ are mere constructs invented by society
- meanings associated or given to them were creations by society in order to categorize and organize
- can shed insight into social beliefs and attitudes about group characteristics and interactions within larger society

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7
Q

represented

A

once identity has been constructed, it is represented (shown/ reflected) to others

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8
Q

representation

A

conveying meaning to others

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9
Q

code

A

The ‘code’ mediates between the world and the ‘mental concepts’ of it which are shared in a society.

  • codes stabilise meaning as it is thereby to some extent coventionalised
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10
Q

system of representation

A
  • certain agreement in a culture about the meanings assigned to these objects/ products and practices
  • Most of the objects/ products and practices we come across every day are associated with rather fixed meanings which are easy to understand

> to some extent determines the identity positions on offer

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11
Q

identity

A

Identity is not (only) naturally given and fixed but can, to an extent, be constructed, changed and adapted to different situations by the individual.

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12
Q

production

A
  • (physical) production process
  • production of an identity position (identity positions people can take up by buying/ using the product/ e.g. created through advertisement)
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13
Q

consumption

A
  • buying/ using the product
  • consuming the identity position on offer (accepting the identity position by buying and using the product)
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14
Q

regulation

A
  • rules and laws governing the production and use of the object
  • financial resources
  • identity construction is also regulated by rather fixed meanings conventionally assigned to objects
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15
Q

National identity

A
  • refers to where individuals come from
  • a certain sense of belonging to a group of people, to shared values and traditions
  • this can be harmless and positive, but also highly problematic
  • constructed
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16
Q

Imagined community
- Benedict Anderson

A

nation = imagined community
- a constructed sense of belonging (community), not based on personal acquaintance
- based on assumptions of shared traditions, values
- referring to the ‘imagined community’ means attempting to create sameness (where is does not necessarily exists)

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17
Q

Limited

A
  • nation has (natural and/ or cultural) boundaries, e.g.: high mountain/ language
  • difference to other nations
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18
Q

Sovereign

A
  • nation is able to decide about its own affairs internally and to represent its interests to the outside world, e.g.: institutions, prime minister
  • difference to other nations
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19
Q

auto-image

A

self-image
- usually positive
- helps construct the imagined community (positive self-image to create unity, emphasises similarity/ sameness)

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20
Q

hetero-image

A

image of others
- can be negative (stereotypical)
- helps strengthen the imagined community via difference from others

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21
Q

Typing

A
  • assigning objects/ people to categories
  • objects/ people can be in several categories simultaneously, the exact category that is invoked often depends on the role the person/ object has at the time
  • essential to meaning-making processes
    > important: this is a neutral practice, without value judgements
    > acknowledges that a person’s identity is not one-dimesional but complex
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22
Q

Stereotyping

A
  • reductive approach, focusing on a few simplified traits (of an object/ person) which are exaggerated
  • these traits are then fixed (seem unchangeable) and naturalised
  • marks an object/ person as different
  • (apparent) difference is used to exclude the person from the group
  • especially frequent and dangerous in situations where there is an imbalance of power
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23
Q

Naturalised

A

made to appear as if the fixed connections between the person/ group and the trait were normal/ natural/ logical (even if they are not)

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24
Q

Power

A

different forms:
- direct/ physical power (use of force)
- indirect/ symbolic/ ideological power

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25
Q

Ideology

A
  • system of representation
  • constructs and spreads attitudes/ views on certain subjects (e.g. corona crisis)
  • attitudes/ views are repeated so often that people start to believe them, become naturalised
  • start to work largely unconsciously
    > Problematic: attitudes/ views often not based on facts but constructed by groups/ people in powerful positions in society in order to achieve certain aims
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26
Q

circularity of power

A

Power ‘circulates’ in society - Stuart Hall

  • people/ groups who hold symbolic/ ideological power need the support of the rest of society to use that power
  • potentially, everyone has the opportunity to either accept their power (buy into the ideologies they spread) or reject it (start questioning/ criticising them)
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27
Q

repressive state apparatus
- Louis Althusser

A
  • police force, prison system
    > used in the singular because their approaches are closely interwoven with each other
  • enforces the norms set up by ideological state apparatuses
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28
Q

ideological state apparatuses
- Louis Althusser

A
  • e.g.: family, educational system, media
    > used in the plural, because they do work together, but in a less unified format
    > (loosely) work together to construct norms for people’s behavior
  • enforced by the repressive state apparatus
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29
Q

hailing

A
  • tries to attract people’s attention
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30
Q

interpellation

A
  • Ideology offers identity positions. If people accept those, they become interpellated into the ideology in question.
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31
Q

hegemony

A
  • tries to explain unequal power relations
  • structural, systemic focus
  • in a hegemony, a dominant group with the means to influence a larger dominated group uses ideology to win and shape the consent of the dominated in order to maintain its power
  • the dominated group can resist hegemonial domination
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32
Q

subculture

A
  • usually part of the dominated group in society
  • challenge the (ideological) power of the dominant (mainstream) culture indirectly (mostly without explicit political protest) and constructs their identity
  • use style to attack naturalised assumptions about what is/ not acceptable in society
  • against the dominant culture
  • against other subcultures
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33
Q

(subcultural) style

A

the way in which subcultures represent themselves

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34
Q

bricolage

A

taking objects out of their original context and using them in new ways
- e.g.: punks using safety pins as earrings

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35
Q

homology

A

various disparate objects are combined in a way that create an overall consistent meaning; style is shared by all members of the subculture
> establishes sameness whithin the subculture

36
Q

linguistic message

A

the writing in and around the image
- can include captions, writing on the back side of a post card …

37
Q

denotation

A

the dictionary meaning of the word
- literal meaning

38
Q

connotation

A

the association we have with words upon reading them

39
Q

Non-coded iconic message

A
  • emcompasses all the objects that can immediately be recognised in the image, even upon only looking at it very briefly
  • this recognition is fairly automatic especially with photographs

> naturalises the prefered coded iconic message, makes the association seem evident and logical through its own obviousness

40
Q

coded iconic message

A
  • refers to the associations we have with the depicted objects
  • they are culture-specific and can vary from viewer to viewer based on their very own background and experiences
41
Q

anchorage

A
  • guides the viewer towards those elements of the iconic/ visual messages and to those associations that the image creators want to foreground
  • on the denotational/ connotational level, the linguistic level
42
Q

(to) anchor
- interaction between the three messages -

A
  • The linguistic message anchors the iconic messages. It guides identification on the level of the non-coded iconic message and interpretation on the level of the coded iconic message.
  • It fixes meaning/s of the image and tries to prevent people from coming up with interpretations that are not intended by the image creators.
  • We have to take care to separate the non-coded iconic message and the coded iconic message analytically, because associations on the level of the coded iconic message tend to come up immediately upon seeing the image.
  • The very obviousness of the non-coded iconic message naturalises the (desired) associations, making them appear logical/ normal.
43
Q

myth

A
  • Roland Barthes
  • broader, not necessarily a story
  • rather: a way in which certain words, signs or images and the meanings conventionally associated with them, can be used to influence people
  • the connotations or associations produced in making sense of words or images can then be mythical.
44
Q

linguistic sign

A

The connection between linguistic signifier and signified is arbitrary and specific to each language.

45
Q

signifier

A

the word we read on a page/ the spoken word we hear/ the icon of something
> tree, baum

46
Q

signified

A
  • what the word/ sound image/ icon refers to
  • meaning
    > a ‘real’ tree
47
Q

arbitrary

A

We usually take the connection between signifier and signified for granted but it is arbitrary, i.e. not logical.
> specific to each language

48
Q

sign
- level of ‘language’

A

signifier (sound/ shape of the sign) + signified (meaning)
> sign

The first level, which Barthes calls ‘language’ level, can refer to anything, from an actual object to any form of representation.

49
Q

encoding

A

the sender encodes (constructs) the message in a particular way, depending on his level of education, knowledge of the subject, views of the world and intention

  • frameworks of knowledge
  • relation of production
  • technical infrastructure
50
Q

decoding

A

the receiver decodes the message of the sender (i.e.: tries to decipher the code and understand the message) on the basis of his own educational level, views of the world, emotions

  • frameworks of knowledge
  • relation of production
  • technical infrastructure
51
Q

decoding positions

A

attitudes/ codes that the receiver can adopt: decoding positions
> various ways in which recipients can react to messages

52
Q

dominant hegemonic code

A
  • fully accept the message, including its ideological assumptions
  • submit to what they assume to be superior (dominant) understanding of the topic
53
Q

negotiated code

A
  • accept the (ideological) premises of a message but reject the message with regard to their personal situation
54
Q

oppositional code

A
  • completely disagree with the (ideological) encoding of the message
  • frequently happens in case of power imbalances

> when a receiver takes up an oppositional decoding position, communication has failed from the perspective of the sender, who did not get the intended message across

> one way in which the receiver can become active

55
Q

popular culture

A

e.g.: film, novels …
> these works often appeal to large audiences and are thus commercially successful
> often dismissed by scholarship due to ‘low-quality’

Cultural Studies: popular products are important parts of culture

56
Q

producerly (texts)

A
  • consumers of popular culture can react actively to the messages of the product
  • can also be productive; the popular text is taken as the basis to create something new (e.g.: fan fiction)
    > active and productive recipients of popular culture frequently pick up on gasps and contradictions in the popular text which invite productive input on the audience’s part.
    > These qualities of popular texts make them producerly
57
Q

active

A

Receivers do not simply have to accept everything they are presented with but can become active and question (the ideological premises of) what is being communicated.

58
Q

Gender

A

signifies the social roles assigned to and women and the feminine or masculine identities men and women create
> these roles are not naturally given but constructed

59
Q

Sex

A

refers to a person’s biological characteristics which mark their body as either male, female or diverse

60
Q

sex/gender system

A

highlights that gender is often assigned on the basis of sex and the connection of biological characteristics with certain traits and social roles and is then naturalised
> This naturalisation takes on a systemic quality as it concerns very different fields and situations.

61
Q

technologies of gender

A

Various media often work together in creating an ideologically dominant representation of gender roles (de Lauretis).
> this cooperation aquires the quality of a technological manufacturing process

62
Q

self-representation

A

identity always needs an addressee; individuals can to a certain extent choose the image/s they want to convey to others

63
Q

feminism

A
  • highly diverse concept often interpreted and used rather differently by groups
  • three (four) waves of feminism
64
Q

first wave (of feminism)

A

late 19th to early 20th century
- basic aim: equal rights (central demand: voting rights for women)
- women wanted to be treated in the same way as men (e.g.: vote, university education, variety of jobs…)

> women strongly limited on the basis of the sex/ gender system at that time

> prominent binary opposition between men and women

65
Q

second wave (of feminism)

A
  • 1970s
  • women insist on celebrating their difference from men, seperate communities of women
  • ‘women’ constructed as one essential category (no real scope for differences among women, ‘man’ as the common ‘enemy’)

> basic binary opposition between men and women remains intact

66
Q

third wave of (of feminism)

A
  • 1990 - ?
  • insistence on diversity and differences among women

> feminism turning away from the white middle-class woman as the norm, including other perspectives

67
Q

(fourth wave of feminism)

A
  • potential fourth wave: from 2010s
  • new forms of feminist community and activism

> empowerment of women through the use of the internet/ social media; e.g.: #MeToo

68
Q

class system

A
  • three classes:
    upper class
    middle class
    working class
69
Q

class markers

A
  • characteristics believed to be typical of the different classes (education, accent, …)
  • complex system
  • highly stereotypical
  • make mobility between the classes difficult
  • create difference between the classes (them vs. us)
70
Q

habitus

A
  • ‘system of dispositions’
  • how a person sees their own social status and wants to be seen by others
  • to some extent unconscious, due to one’s family/ upbringing
71
Q

life-style

A
  • class-specific spectrum of possessions and practices
  • life-stysle reperesents habitus to the outside world
  • distinction from possessions/ practices of the other classes
72
Q

economic capital

A

money/ possessions
(both capitals frequently dependent on each other)

73
Q

cultural capital

A

education/ knowledge, access to certain circles
(both capitals frequently dependent on each other)

74
Q

‘race’

A
  • not a neutral term
  • originally used by biologists in a rather descriptive way
  • 19th century, first applied to human beings and became evaluative
    > colonial powers constructed the white ‘race’ as superior
    > the origins of ‘race’ in biology were falsly used to make the new theories more credible/ scientific
    > the category of ‘race’ did not precede the concept of racism. Rather, race was invented to justify (naturalise) racism/ racial discrimination
75
Q

racism

A

prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalised

76
Q

ethinicity

A
  • differences in people’s origin
  • a culturally constructed concept which is less biased than ‘race’, because it does not posit whiteness as the norm. Everyone has an ethnicity
  • members of ethnic groups can, to a certain extent, choose and actively construct their identity
77
Q

intersectionality

A

possible intersections between different elements of personal identity like gender, class, ethnicity

  • focus on the ways in which intersections may increase discrimination with regard to some social groups
78
Q

politics of resistance

A
  • 1970s
  • response to discrimination and exclusion of non-white people in British society
  • aim: formation of one large pressure group uniting against racism
  • use of ‘black’ as designation for all non-white people
  • in the cultural sphere: fighting for access to means of representation, providing positive representation of non-white people
79
Q

politics of representation

A
  • mid-1980s onwards
  • focus on ethnic diversity/ difference
  • foreground very specific hyphenated identities
  • other factors of identity become important as well (intersectionality)
  • cultural sphere: critcism within the community (difficult before, as all representation mattered)
80
Q

myth
- level of myth

A

sign on level of ‘language’ turns into signifier on myth-level, associations with the ‘language’ sign are added (signified on the level of myth)
> together they form the myth

The associations with the ‘language’ sign on the level of myth are not inherent in the sign but constructed and then naturalised
> The fact that the associations seem natural to us, can be exploited to influence people.

81
Q

space

A
  • practiced place
  • focus on the ways place is used/ constructed by people in different ways
    dominant concept
  • Spatial practices
  • ideological and political meaning
82
Q

spatial turn

A
  • developed in the discipline of geography but is quickly taken up by Cultural Studies
    > attention to space and spatial representation in many disciplines and media from the 1990s onwards
83
Q

place

A
  • physical shape and geographical positions of the location concerned
  • relatively static
84
Q

spatial practices

A
  • active role of the space users
  • different meanings attributed to the location by different users
85
Q

Place forms the basis of space

A

place can limit spatial practices, and meanings/ identities can be constructed differently by different space users within the limits set by place

86
Q

Place forms the basis of space

A

place can limit spatial practices, and meanings/ identities can be constructed differently by different space users within the limits set by place

87
Q

space
- important

A
  • spaces naturalise meaning, categories
  • in this sense, spaces can support existing power relations
  • those power relations can also be contested through the use of space

Cultural Studies (2 decks)

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