British Cultural Studies Summary PDF
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Technische Universität Dortmund
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This document provides a summary of lectures on British Cultural Studies, exploring various theories and concepts related to culture, including influential figures like Matthew Arnold and Raymond Williams. It also touches on concepts of popular culture, representation, and subjectivity.
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BRITISH CULTURAL STUDIES - SUMMARY Legende: DEFINITIONS IMPORTANT PEOPLE (Theoretiker, Philosophen etc.) HISTORY (HISTORICAL CONTEXT) VORLESUNG 1: CULTURE CULTURE Latin: Cultura/Colere -> cultiv...
BRITISH CULTURAL STUDIES - SUMMARY Legende: DEFINITIONS IMPORTANT PEOPLE (Theoretiker, Philosophen etc.) HISTORY (HISTORICAL CONTEXT) VORLESUNG 1: CULTURE CULTURE Latin: Cultura/Colere -> cultivate/protect/honor with worship (pflegen/anbauen) - Stood for process, such as crops -> TENDING FOR NATURAL GROWTH - From noun of process to an independent noun (you can say from verb to noun) MATTHEW ARNOLD (1800s) Culture as study of perfection - Goal of culture: SWEETNESS AND LIGHT - Culture as a way to grow personally, morally and intellectually - Engage in art, philosophy, literature etc. - Negative view on machinery (industrial revolution) -> Culture looks beyond machinery CRITICS: This way of thinking was seen as “elitist” meaning that only people who are well off can achieve these goals RAYMOND WILLIAMS (1900s) Culture is ORDINARY - Anyone can and should be able to participate in culture - Focus on everyday beliefs and practices - Culture as a way of life - Describes culture as “structures of feeling” -> shared emotions and experiences that define a specific time or community VORLESUNG 2: POPULAR CULTURE JOHN STOREY 6 Definitions of Popular Culture 1. Popular culture as culture that is liked by most people (quantity) 2. Popular culture as culture that is left after we decide what high culture is (quality, sees pop culture as inferior to high culture) 3. Popular culture is “mass culture” -> highly commercial that is produced for mass consumption (manipulation) 4. Popular culture as folk culture -> from the people for the people (focus on authencity) 5. Popular culture as a space of struggle between subordinates (resist control) and dominants (maintain power) ➔ CULTURAL HEGEMONY: dominat groups influence culture to keep power 6. Postmodern popular culture: no destinction between popular and high culture VORLESUNG 3: REPRESENTATION – SEMIOTIC APPROACH SEMIOTICS The study of signs and how these create meaning - Denotation: literal meaning (snake) - Connotation: implied meaning (rebirth) SIGNS Signs are always part of a signifying system (semiotic system) - Signs become representation -> language helps us understand and interpret the world by turning abstract signs into meaningful representations CODES The signs are organized by codes - Encoding: create meaning in texts through signs - Decoding: interpreting these encoded messages ➔ 3 Positions to interpret (denk an eine typische werbung die etwas aussagen will z.B. body image) 1. Dominat: accept the meaning 2. Negotiated: partically accept but reject the message 3. Oppositional: fully reject the message and recognize its problems SEMIOTIC VS DISCURSIVE Difference: - Semiotic: focus on the “how” of representation and “how” language produces meaning - Discursive: focus on the effects and consequences of representation FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE Linguistic sign is a link between concept and sound pattern: - Signified (concept) -> the concept (picture) of a dog - Signifier (sound pattern) -> the word/spelling “dog” VORLESUNG 4: REPRESENTATION – DISCURSIVE APPROACH MICHEL FOUCAULT “Power produces knowledge” - Power doesn’t only encourage knowledge, but it actively creates it Example: law (power) is based on legal knowledge (knowledge) DISCOURSE On DISCOURSE: - The ways of thinking and speaking about subjects that shape our perception - Even if discourses are composed of signs, they do more than just naming things -> they involve deeper meanings and contexts which are influenced by society and culture TRUTH On TRUTH - Truth is connected to systems of power. Power influences what is considered “true” - “Regime of truth” -> ways how truth is constructed and accepted within a society and shaped by cultural norms & historical contexts ALL IN ALL: KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH ARE PRODUCED THROUGH DISCOURSES VORLESUNG 5: HISTORY ARTHUR MARWICK Defining History in 3 ways HISTORY 1. History as everything that has happened in the past (facts, what actually happened) 2. History as not what happened in the past, but rather as what people describe it as / interpret it 3. History as an academic discipline -> systematic and scientific study of the past E. P. THOMPSON “The winners vs. The losers” ➔ History tends to remember the successful people (whose ideas aligned with how society later developed) rather than the “losers” who have failed, resisted change or were on the “wrong side” of history. ROLAND BARTHES On MYTH: - Myth simplifies reality and distorts it MYTH by erasing its historical context and makes it seem natural/inevitable -> it empties history because people’s struggles and achievements are not being acknowledged - Removes the complexity of history - Presents complex ideas as obvious facts (no clarity) HERITAGE - Preserves artifacts, places and buildings - Critics: it turns history into a profit- driven tourist industry and promotes simplified nationalism (ignoring historical complexities) VORLESUNG 6: IDENTITY (1&2) ESSENTIALISM VS NON-ESSENTIALISM Essentialism: - Identity is inherent (eigen) and unchanging - Fixed sets of characteristics - Suggests that there is an authentic “core” of a person Non-Essentialism: - Identities are fluid - They are shaped by context, relationships and power dynamics EXTRINSIC VS INTRINSIC ASCRIPTIONS Extrinsic: - How others perceive and label us Intrinsic: - Our own sense of self and belonging (how we perceive ourselves) KARL MARX Social constructivist approach to identity: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM - Theoretical concept that emphasized the role and influence of social interactions, economic conditions, power structures and cultural norms in shaping identifies INTERSECTIONALITY Framework to understand how different social factors overlap and shape experiences - How factors such as race, gender, class shape people and create inequalities VORLESUNG 7: SUBJECTIVITY SUBJECTIVITY Subjectivity: - Refers to the conscious and unconscious thoughts, emotions and self-awareness that make up our sense of self and our ability to act in the world - Acknowledges that people are shaped by external forces (class, power etc) LIBERALISM Liberalism: - views the subject as an autonomous individual with free will, capable of making rational decisions. - Enlightment thinking Louis Althusser The process of addressing someone, turning Subject Interpellation them into subjects (student, worker etc.) - People are free but are also shaped by ideological forces that put them into social roles VORLESUNG 8: RACE AND ETHNICITY RACE Socially constructed categories based on BARKER AND JANE physical characteristics (skin color, hair etc.) to classify people ➔ Race is not a biological, but a social construct created through power struggles ETHNICITY Refers to cultural identity based on shared B&J values, traditions, language and history ➔ Unlike race, ethnicity is about self- identification HYBRIDITY Referring to the mixing of cultures and B&J identities, creating new blended forms of it ➔ Cultures are not fixed but are fluid, they evolve Structural Hybridization: mixing of cultures in border zones and cities Cultural Hybridization: how people respond to the mixing of cultures: assimilation, separation etc. STEREOTYPES Simplified, often negative representations of a group of people ➔ Used to justify inequality and maintain power structures VORLESUNG 9 – CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY JOHN AGNEW A place is PLACE - A location with meaning - Shaped by social relations, economic forces and cultural practices 3 Elements of “places” 1. Locales: the settings where social interactions happen (school,work etc.) 2. Locations: how wider economic or social forces (e.g. globalization) affect a place 3. Sense of place: the emotional and cultural connection to the people MICHEL de CERTEAU Space is SPACE - How people use and experience a place through their actions and creativity ➔ While place is structured by power (citirs,institutions), space is created by peoples everyday practices(turning a rented apartment into a home) MICHEL FOUCAULT A heterotopia is a space with multiple, HETEROTOPIA shifting meanings depending on who uses it and how Example: a museum can be aplace of education for some but a symbol of colonial power for others VORLESUNG 10: CONSUMPTION CONSUMPTION Historically “consumption” meant to destroy and waste, but overtime it became a significant activity for humanity KARL MARX Bourgeoisie (owners of production) profit by selling the goods of Proletariat (workers) ➔ From production driven by need to production driven by profit -> CAPITALISM PIERRE BOURDIEU Our habitus (preferences) are shaped by: - Economic capital: how much money we have - Cultural capital: what we learn from family and education ➔ Social class influences our tastes and what we consume VORLESUNG 10: THE FOUR NATIONS STATE Central political unit that rules over territory -> it has authority, laws and maintains order NATION Shared identity among people based on language, history, geography, culture, religion etc. NATION-STATE Combines both into one cohesive entity -> when a nation and a state overlap perfectly. Example: a country where most people belong to the same cultural or ethnic group