The Cultural Turn

Identity, Subjectivity and the Meaning and Practices of Everyday Life

The Concept of Culture

A problematic conceptIntegral to study of identitycultural situatedness, cultural pursuits

and practices shape our sense of self Culture shapes attachment to identityCulture has material effects

the study of culture in the social sciences

From social anthropology to present day cultures and subcultures, leisure

activities and shopping, football hooliganism, the political culture of groups and organisations - just a few of the areas that the intellectual tradition that has become known as cultural studies have become interested in

So what is cultural studies?

Exciting field of studyInterested in micro level analysisspans the arts, the humanities,

geography even science and technology

Definitions of Culture

hotly contested concept rules and conventions that govern social

behaviour material artefacts that societies utilise

and produce when they are going about the business of daily life

an abstraction that exists only in the mind

EP Thompson on Culture

EP Thompson ‘Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society (Thompson 1871).

A broad definition highlights the notion that

culture is something that is learned and something that is shared.

Raymond Williams on Culture

Founding father of cultural studies

‘culture includes the organisation of production, the structure of the family the structure of institutions which express or govern social relationships, the characteristic forms through which members of society communicate’

Karl Marx on Culture

separate but interlinked relationship between culture and the economy

economic base determines the cultural superstructure

capitalist societies have a very different culture to communist or feudal societies.

Clifford Geertz on Culture

noted the role of personal and group story telling or narrative in culture

‘culture is simply the ensemble of stories we tell about ourselves’

Cultural studies

cultural studies does not have a clearly defined set of interests or objects of study

lacks its own distinct set of theories or methodology

borrows heavily from a range of disciplines such as sociology, anthroplogy, socio-linguistics, literary criticism, art theory, political science, psychology

Sarder and Van Loon (1998)

five main characteristics. 1. examines its subject matter in terms of

cultural practices and their relation to power 2. Studies culture in context3. two functions: it is both the object of study

and a site of political critique and political action

4. attempts to reveal and to reconcile the division of knowledge

5. committed to a moral evaluation of modern societies and a radical political response

The Concept of the Sign in Cultural Studies

key concept in cultural studies is that of the sign

comes from the structural liguinstics of Ferdinand de Saussure and semiotics

symbolic aspects of language, image and text

3 Basic Features of the Sign

1. The sign has a concrete form

2. it refers to something other than itself, in other words the sign always has some other referent

3. It is commonly recognised by most people within the cultural context that it comes from, to signify the same thing.

Elements in the Process of Signification

1. Sign- the mental image or concept.

2. Signifier- the object or word

3. Signified- the symbolic thing or mental association that the sign refers to

Saussure on Language

language generates meaning in a special way

Language produces meaning because it is part of a system of relationships of similarity and difference.

we understand the linguistic sign ‘dog’ because it conjures up a mental image of dogness. It is not man, it is not cow, it is not cauliflower

Language and Shared Meaning

Language works because we have a shared set of concepts and common understandings

The principles which geovern language also organise other symbolic forms of communication

Some objects, although apparently similar have very different symbolic values and we understand their symbolic value because they are part of a system of rich symbols

The Meaning of Objects

Similar objects can have different meaning

Context and use alter meaning

Same article of clothing-jeans- different significations

meaning of signs is not fixed it can change over time

The Meaning of Burberry

Shift in meaning over time.

Once signified wealth and status

Now symbolises ‘chavness’ or the underclass

Signification and Identity

Use of body in signification

Tattoos, peircing, clothing, eating

Signifies who we are and how we want to be seen

Others who share our culture can read the body

Shared systems of referents

Problems with Signification

Not a smooth unproblematic process Frequent misunderstandings Cross cultural differences in meaning Objects and practices can have many

meanings They are polysemic Opportunities to ‘misread’ But we still rely heavily on signification to

make sense of the world

Why is it important to understand Signification?

helps us to understand power relationships and social control

part of the process of representation Through representation abstract and

ideological forms are given a concrete form.

Representations prop up political systems, they are ideological.

Representing the Other

non- western cultures represented as the ‘other’ of the West

That which is not us, non-whites, women, homosexuals are

seen as the ‘other’ ‘others’ are ascribed with negative

identities

Meaning making and Representation

All meaning making is to an extent subjective

meanings change over time meanings have been shaped by history cultural studies sphere of interest is

about looking at how and why meanings change

Cultural theory and political critique

cultural theory has provided some of the most vehement criticisms of slavery and colonialism, of class inequality, of racism and sexism

often been accused with being obsessed with the underdogs

Cultural studies has attempted to reveal how marginalised groups build their identities

A Critique of Cultural studies

accused of obsessing about mostly white culture

founding fathers, EP Thompson , Richard Hoggart, Raymond Williams and Stuart Hall… all came from working class backgrounds

All helped set up BCCS

Cultural Studies and ‘Race’

Notions of Race and Ethnicity have become central in cultural studies

‘Race’ a socially constructed category not a set of objective social categories no biologically significant diffrenecs between

so-called racial groups. differences are ideologically constructed they

have developed in the context of imperialism Modernity has generated racism and social

hatred as a justification for the subjugation and exploitation of non-white peoples

Ali Rattansi on Race

in racist cultures ethnic identities are racialised.

biological discourses around difference and superiority and inferiority are combined with cultural signifiers such as religion, clothing, food and eating practices to legitimate social exclusion, exploitation, inferiorisation and violence against the ‘other’.

Identity and the ‘Other’

‘our’ culture as pure with ‘other’ culture being viewed as potentially polluting

The ‘others’ identity is dangerous, dirty potentially contaminating.

But- no such thing as a pure culture. All cultures hybrid The culture of the ‘other’ under threat from the

west Globalisation damages local culture

Final words

identities are something that are experienced most profoundly when they are under threat

Whether that threat is subjective or objective is a matter for debate

. Cultural studies is at the forefront of critiques of globalisation

Isolationist identities such as various forms of political separatism and religious fundamentalism can be seen as a back lash against increasing cultural convergence and homogenisation.