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)
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
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)
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
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)
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
7
Q
represented
A
once identity has been constructed, it is represented (shown/ reflected) to others
8
Q
representation
A
conveying meaning to others
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
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
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.
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)
13
Q
consumption
A
- buying/ using the product
- consuming the identity position on offer (accepting the identity position by buying and using the product)
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
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
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)
17
Q
Limited
A
- nation has (natural and/ or cultural) boundaries, e.g.: high mountain/ language
- difference to other nations
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
19
Q
auto-image
A
self-image
- usually positive
- helps construct the imagined community (positive self-image to create unity, emphasises similarity/ sameness)
20
Q
hetero-image
A
image of others
- can be negative (stereotypical)
- helps strengthen the imagined community via difference from others
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
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
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)
24
Q
Power
A
different forms:
- direct/ physical power (use of force)
- indirect/ symbolic/ ideological power
25
Ideology
- 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
26
circularity of power
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)
27
repressive state apparatus
- Louis Althusser
- 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
28
ideological state apparatuses
- Louis Althusser
- 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
29
hailing
- tries to attract people's attention
30
interpellation
- Ideology offers identity positions. If people accept those, they become interpellated into the ideology in question.
31
hegemony
- 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
32
subculture
- 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
33
(subcultural) style
the way in which subcultures represent themselves
34
bricolage
taking objects out of their original context and using them in new ways
- e.g.: punks using safety pins as earrings
35
homology
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
linguistic message
the writing in and around the image
- can include captions, writing on the back side of a post card ...
37
denotation
the dictionary meaning of the word
- literal meaning
38
connotation
the association we have with words upon reading them
39
Non-coded iconic message
- 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
coded iconic message
- 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
anchorage
- 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
(to) anchor
- interaction between the three messages -
- 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
myth
- 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
linguistic sign
The connection between linguistic signifier and signified is arbitrary and specific to each language.
45
signifier
the word we read on a page/ the spoken word we hear/ the icon of something
> tree, baum
46
signified
- what the word/ sound image/ icon refers to
- meaning
> a 'real' tree
47
arbitrary
We usually take the connection between signifier and signified for granted but it is arbitrary, i.e. not logical.
> specific to each language
48
sign
- level of 'language'
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
encoding
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
decoding
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
decoding positions
attitudes/ codes that the receiver can adopt: decoding positions
> various ways in which recipients can react to messages
52
dominant hegemonic code
- fully accept the message, including its ideological assumptions
- submit to what they assume to be superior (dominant) understanding of the topic
53
negotiated code
- accept the (ideological) premises of a message but reject the message with regard to their personal situation
54
oppositional code
- 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
popular culture
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
producerly (texts)
- 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
active
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
Gender
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
Sex
refers to a person's biological characteristics which mark their body as either male, female or diverse
60
sex/gender system
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
technologies of gender
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
self-representation
identity always needs an addressee; individuals can to a certain extent choose the image/s they want to convey to others
63
feminism
- highly diverse concept often interpreted and used rather differently by groups
- three (four) waves of feminism
64
first wave (of feminism)
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
second wave (of feminism)
- 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
third wave of (of feminism)
- 1990 - ?
- insistence on diversity and differences among women
> feminism turning away from the white middle-class woman as the norm, including other perspectives
67
(fourth wave of feminism)
- 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
class system
- three classes:
upper class
middle class
working class
69
class markers
- 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
habitus
- '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
life-style
- class-specific spectrum of possessions and practices
- life-stysle reperesents habitus to the outside world
- distinction from possessions/ practices of the other classes
72
economic capital
money/ possessions
(both capitals frequently dependent on each other)
73
cultural capital
education/ knowledge, access to certain circles
(both capitals frequently dependent on each other)
74
'race'
- 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
racism
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
ethinicity
- 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
intersectionality
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
politics of resistance
- 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
politics of representation
- 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
myth
- level of myth
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
space
- practiced place
- focus on the ways place is used/ constructed by people in different ways
dominant concept
- Spatial practices
- ideological and political meaning
82
spatial turn
- 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
place
- physical shape and geographical positions of the location concerned
- relatively static
84
spatial practices
- active role of the space users
- different meanings attributed to the location by different users
85
Place forms the basis of space
place can limit spatial practices, and meanings/ identities can be constructed differently by different space users within the limits set by place
86
Place forms the basis of space
place can limit spatial practices, and meanings/ identities can be constructed differently by different space users within the limits set by place
87
space
- important
- 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
