1
Q
value judgements
A
- one ccultural product is “better” than another
- one person/society has got “more culture” than another
2
Q
power structures
A
- some people/groups of people have more power to decide what counts as “cultured” and what does not
- these groups have the power to exclude people/groups considered less “cultured”
3
Q
criterion of difference and sameness (personal identity)
A
difference:
- all the ways in which people can be differernt from each other (e.g. in terms of age, gender, classs, ethnicity,…)
sameness:
- all the ways in which people can be similar (sharin certain tastes, abilities, emotions, opinions, attitudes,..)
4
Q
constructed (identitiy)
A
Identity is not naturally given but constructed
5
Q
representation/represented (identity)
A
once identity has been constructed, it is represented (shown/reflected) to others
-> representation: conveying meaning to others
6
Q
code (language)
A
langugage, for cultural studies:
- not naturally given
- it is seen as a constructed sign system/code
= this code mediates between the world and the natural mental concepts of it which are shared in society
7
Q
system of representation (identity)
A
identity can be represented in certain ways
- most of the objects/products/practices we come across every day are associated with certain rather fixed meanings which are easy to understand
- this system to some extend determines the identiy positions that can be adopted
- example: Imagine you see oranges or can bars in smebodys shopping cart - wat do you think about the person?
8
Q
circuit of culture
A
- representation
- identity
- production
- consumption
- regulation
shows how the construction and representation of personal identity is connected to the actual production and consumption of products
demonstrates how identity constructions are regulated, for instance through financial resources but also through the limitations posed by the relatively fixed meanings attached to products
most important characteristics
- it establishes relations between culture and the economic sphere
- all the elements are interrelated
- you can start at any point and go from element to element in any order
9
Q
production (identity)
A
- (physical) production process of the object concerned
- production of an identity position/identity positions people can take up by buying the product
10
Q
consumption (identitiy)
A
- buying and using the object
- consuming the identity position on offer (accepting the identity position by buying and using the product)
11
Q
regulation (identity)
A
- rules and laws governing the production and use of the object, e.g. by the state (example: minors are not allowed to buy alcohol, therefore, they cannot adopt the identity position of the “hip” and “cool” persons drinking alcohol in ads.)
- financial resources (if you cannot afford an expensive product, you cannot use it to represent your identitiy)
- identity construction is also regulated by rather fixed meanings conventionally assigned to objects
12
Q
national identity
A
- constructed
- refers not only to where individuals come from but also to a certain sense of belonging to a group of people, shared values and traditions
-> this can be harmless or even positive but also highly problematic
13
Q
nation = imagined community
Benedict Anderson
A
- a constructed sense of belonging (community), not based on personal acquaintance
- based on the assumptions of shared traditions, values
- referring to the “imagined community” means attempting to create sameness
14
Q
characteristic of a nation according to anderson
limited
A
nation has (natural and/or cultral) boundaries
-> for instance high mountains or large stretches of water (natural) or different languages (cultural)
- highlights its staus as different from other nations
15
Q
characteristic of a nation according to anderson
sovereign
A
nation is able to decide about its own affairs internally and to represent its interests to the outside world
-> visible in institutions like Parliament (passing laws etc.) and a Prime Minister or head of state (regulating internal and external affairs)
- highlights its staus as different from other nations
16
Q
auto-image
A
- self-image (in case of natioal identity, the image a nation has of itself)
- usually positive
- helps construct the imagined community (positive self-image to creat unity; emphasises similarity/sameness)
17
Q
hetero-image
A
- image of others (in this case, the image this nation as of other nations/image other nations have of this nation)
- can be negative (stereotypical)
- helps strengthen the imagined community via difference from others
18
Q
typing
(stereotyping)
A
- assigning objects/people to categories (e.g.) someone can be a mother, daughter, a teacher, etc.)
- objects/people can be in several categories simutaneously
important this is a neutral practice, without value judgements
- takes place e.g. on the basis of group membership or roles performed
- acknowledges that a person’s identity is not one-dimensional but complex
19
Q
Stereotyping
A
- reductive apporach, focusing on a few simplified traits (of an object/person) which are exaggerated
-> these traits are then fixed (they seem unchangeable and attached to the object/person forever)
-> moreover, the traits are naturalised (they seem to belong to the object/person naturally, and this seems so self-evident that apparently it cannot be questioned any longer) - this process is used to mark an object/person as different
- the (apparent) difference is then used to exclude the person from the group
- especially frequent and dangerous in situations where there is an imbalance of power
20
Q
Power (according to Stuart Hall)
A
- can take different forms, particularly
-> direct/physical power (the use of force)
-> indirect/symbolic/ideological power
21
Q
Ideology
A
- is a system of representation that constructs and spreads attitudes/views on certain subjects (e.g. the status of minority groups within a nation, climate change, the current Corona crisis,…)
- these ideas are repeated so often that people start to take them for granted and stop questioning them, i.e. the ideas become naturalised
- problematic because these ideas are not always based on facts but consructed by peole/groups in powerful positions in society
22
Q
symbolic/ideological power
A
- ideologies can influence large numbers of people (e.g. the nazi ideology)
- by constructing and spreading ideas about certain subjects, one can gain power, because these ideas can potentionally “govern” the behaviour of others
-> this power is called symbolic/or ideological power, because it can influence the ways the world is perceived
23
Q
circularity of power
Stuart Hall
A
- for Stuart Hall power circulates in a society
-> this means that people/groups who hold symbolic/ideological power need the support of the rest of society to use that power. potentionally, each and everyone has the opportunity to either accpet their power (buy into the ideologies they spread) or reject it (start questioning, criticising them)
concrete example: social media are platforms for both, the large-scale spreading of ideologies as well as the opportunity for individual resistence against them
24
Q
two ways of exerting power in a state
Louis Althusser
A
- repressive state apparatus (e.g. police force, prison system -> used in singular, because their approaches are closely interwoven with each other)
- ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) (e.g. family, educationals system, media -> used in plural because they do word togetherbut in a less unified format)
25
repressive state apparatus
<-->
ideological state appartuses
repressice state apparatus
- uses physical power to keep people under control
- enforces the norms ISAs set up
ideological state apparatuses
- use/have ideological power; their system is based on oppositions between what is considered "normal" and what is consideres "abnormal"; ISAs nudge people towards the proper behaviour/make people adopt the "proper" behaviours without realising this
- (loosely) work together (with RSA) to construct norms for people's behaviour
26
Hailing and Interpellation
- Ideology hails people, i.e. it tries to attract their attention
- Ideology offers identity positions, if people accept those, they become interpellated into the ideology in question
-> those who can offer identity positions have the power to influence people
27
Hegemony
Antonio Gramsci
- hegemony has a more structural, systemic focus (ideology concentrates on the role of individuals)
- the dominant group has the power to create and spread ideas
-> therby try to naturalise the exsting power structure (making the dominated group believe that the system works 'for the common good', has always been like that etc.)
- Hegemony works based on a consensus between dominant and dominated
- power shifts can occur as soons as members of the dominated group do not give their consent to the structures anymore /start to resist
28
Hegemony diagramm
- dominant group uses ideology to win/shape consent of dominated groups
- dominated groups need to consent/can contest power of dominant group
-> dominant and dominated group can switch spots as soon as members of the dominated group do not give their consent to the structures anymore
->power is made to appear natural
29
bricolage
(Subcultural style - stylistic principle)
- taking objects out of their original context and using them in new ways
(example: punks taking safety pins from domestic context and using them as earrings)
-> creates/signifies their difference from the mainstream
30
subcultural **style**
(stylistic principle)
the way in which subcultures represent themselves
31
homology
(subculture - stylistic principle)
- various disparate objects are combined in a way that creates an overall consistent meaning -> style is shared by all members of the subculture
- establishes sameness within the subculture
32
naturalisation
(subculture)
- main focus of subcultures' opposition to the dominant culture
-> combinations and connections in mainstream style are as arbitrary as in subcultural style, but since we are so used to them, we consider them to be 'normal'/natural
33
Subculture
- usually challenge the ideological power of the dominant social group/the mainstream
- they use **style** to attack **naturalised** assumptions about what is and what is not proper
34
Meaning produced by the interaction of 3 messages
(Rhetoric of the image - Roland Barthes)
1. linguistic message: the writing in and around the image
- denotation: the dictionary meaning of words
- connotation: associations we have with words upon reading them
2. non-coded iconic message: all the objects that can immediately be recognised in the image; recognition is fairly automatic
3. coded iconic message: refers to the associations we have with the depicted objects; culture-specific and can vary from viewer to viewer based on own background and experiences
=> when analysing images it is not enough to simply identify the three messages, it is important to look at the interactions between them to understand how images can be constructed to influence people
35
linguistic denotation
(linguistic message)
the dictionary meaning of words
36
linguistic connotation
(linguistic message)
the associations we have with words upon reading them
37
non-coded iconic message
- all the objects can immediately be recognised in the image
- recognition is fairly automatic, especislly with photographs
key funtion:
- naturalises the coded iconic message
38
coded iconic message
- the assotiations we have with the depicted objects
- culture-specific and can vary from viewer to viewer based on own background and experiences
39
anchorage
(key function of the linguistic message)
- guides the viewer towards those elements of the iconic/visual messages and to those associations that the image creators want to foreground
40
Myth
(Roland Barthes)
- a way in which certain words, signs or images and the meanings conventionally associated with them can be used to influence people
41
Barthes' Concept of Myth is based on the linguistic sign
signifier: the word we read on a page/the spoken word/the icon of something
signified: what the word/sound image/icon refers to
= signifier + signified = sign
Example:
Tree(word): sigifier -> sound/shape of sign
Tress(icon/image): signified -> meaning
=> connection between lin guistic signifier and signified is arbitrary and specific to each language
42
Connection between linguistic sign and myth
- level of myth
- sign on level of 'language' turns into signifier on myth-level
43
Stuart Hall
Model of Communication
sender: encodes the message
receiver: decodes the message
- how messages are encoded and decoded depends on the educational level and views of the world, socio-economic background and on access to the means of sending a message on a particular channel
44
**code**
Stuart Hall
- does not simply refer to the chosen language but also to the media format selected and the overall approach to what is represented
condition for successful communication: sender and receiver share the same code
failures of communication:
1. misunderstandings when they do not share the same level of knowledge or the same proficiency of the language
2. receiver refuses to accept the message, ex.: they do not share the senders ideological encoding of the message
45
**decoding positions**
Stuart Hall
- attitudes/codes that receivers can adopt
1. **dominant hegemonic code**: receiver fully accept the message, including ideological assumptions
2. **negotiated code**: receiver operate within the negotiated code when they generelly accept the (idological) premises of a message but reject the message with regard to their personal situation
3. **oppositional code**: receivers employ the oppositional code, they completely disagree with the ideological encoding of the message
46
decoding positions Stuart Hall:
dominant hegemonic code
receiver fully accepts the message, including ideological assumptions
47
decoding positions Stuart Hall:
negotiated code
receiver operate within the negotiated code when they generelly accept the (idological) premises of a message but reject the message with regard to their personal situation
48
decoding positions Stuart Hall:
oppositional code
receivers employ the oppositional code, they completely disagree with the ideological encoding of the message
49
popular texts - producerly texts
popular text = producerly texts
- ex. : Harry Potter -> is a popular text that invites productive responses (fan fictions/parodies), therefore it is a producerly text
50
Gender
- signifies the social roles assigned to men and women and the feminine or masculine identities men and women create
-> roles are not naturally given but socially constructed
51
Sex
- refrers to a person's biological characteristics which mark their body as either male, female or divers
52
Sex/Gender system
- social roles constructed for men and woman -> frequently ideological and serve certain aims
Ex.: reducing women to a weak, passive and/or nurturing role / men as strong, active and smart
- gender often asssigned on the basis of sex, connection of biological characteristics with certain traits and social roles is naturalised
Cultural Studies question the strong connection between 'sex' and 'gender', particularly the assumption that social roles are fixed by biology
53
representation of gender roles can...
- can support or question the sex/gender system and influence how people perceive their gender identities
- self-representation plays an equally important role in the construction of gender identities
-> people can accept or rejedct the gender roles on offer and construct their own gender identity (circuit of culture)
54
technologies of gender
Teresa de Lauretis
- media, film, advertising, etc.
- media often work together in creating an ideologically dominant representation of gender roles
55
Feminism
- closely related to gender
- highly diverse -> interpreted and used rather differently by different groups
- said to have occured in three 'waves', some say that we are currently in a fourth one
56
first wave
Feminism
- 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. get a university education, great variety of jobs, etc.)
-> women strongly limited on the basis of the sex/gender system at that time
-> prominent binary opposition between men and women
57
second wave
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
58
transition phase
Feminism
- 1980s
- growing awareness of differences between women (e.g. class, 'race')
- '**intersectionality**': acknowledging discrimination due to a combination of factors/categories (ex.: a black working-class woman might face completely different problems from a white middle-class one)
- growing awareness of the overall constructedness of identity (i.e. there's no such thing as *the* woman or *the* man)
59
third wave
Feminsim
- 1990 - ?
- insistence on diversity and differences
-> feminism turning away from the white middle-class woman as the norm, including other perspectives
60
potential fourth wave
Feminism
- from 2010s
- empowerment of women through th use of the internet/social media; #MeToo
61
class system
roughly divided into three classes (hierarchy):
- upper class
- middle class
- working class
62
class markers
- characteristics believed to be typical of the different classes
-> e.g. accent, kind of school/university attended, type of employment/source of income, accommodation/home ownership, food, political affiliation, etc.
- class markers form a complex system
- can be highly stereotypical (people frequently judged/excluded for their class affiliation)
- make mobility between the classes difficult (need the 'right' kind of accent, income, etc. to be part of the upper lass)
- create difference between the classes
63
Habitus
Pierre Bourdieu
- system of dispositions -> how a person sees their own social status and wants to be seen by others
- to some extend uncounscious, due to one's family/upbringing
- used to describe the characteristics that distinguish the situation and meaning-making structures of people from different classes
64
system of dispositions (habitus) leads to
'life-style' based on...
- class specific spectrum of possessions and practices ( a particular habitus makes access to money/possessions easier; sharing the cultural markers of a particular class, e.g. table manners or a particular way of using language, will ensure acceptance)
- in a way, life-style represents habitus to the outside world
- distinction from possessions/practices of the other classes -> sameness within one's class, difference from other class
65
Capital
Habitus
choice of practices/activities in a particular habitus is based on the necessary
- economic capital (money)
- cultural capital (knowledge, skills, access to particular social circles)
-> both frequently depend on each other (money grants access to e.g. good schools, which then in turn helps generate cultural capital)
-> reverse may also be true: money does not necessarily equel an upper-class status ('new money', you lack the 'proper' connections and behaviour of the upper classes (cultural capital))
66
race
- NOT neutral
- essentially 'race' was established to institutionalise the stereotyping, subjugation and exclusion of certain groups of people and make it seem acceptable
-> this way, power exercised over these 'races' should appear 'normal' and 'natural'
=> constructed as biological category (is NOT really based on biological differences)
-> 'race' did not precede the concept of racism. 'race' was invented to justify racism/racial discrimination
67
ethnicity
- cultural studies prefer to use the term 'ethnicity'
- differences in people's origins
- focuses on cultural differences (traditions, language, religious practices, region of origin, etc.)
- culturally constructed concept -> less biased than 'race' because it does not posit whiteness as the norm
- it is not imposed on groups, members of ethnic groups can, to an extent, choose and actively construct their ethnicity (active construction of personal identity)
68
Intersectionality
- possible intersections between different elements of personal identity like: gender, class, ethnicity
- special focus: the ways in which such intersections may work to increase discrimination with regard to some social groups
69
politics of resistance (especially 1970s)
Stuart Hall "New ethnicites"
- response to discrimination and exclusion of non-white people in britsh society
- aim: formation of one large pressure group uniting against racism -> fight against discrimination by white mainstream society
- use of 'black' as a designation for all non-white people
- in the cultural sphere: fighting for the representation of black experience in the media/ countering negative/stereotypical representations with positive ones
—> a black personality would not say anything negative against another black person, even tho that means negative representation -> negative representation in the media is better than none)
70
politics of representation (especially from the mid-1980s onwards)
Stuart Hall "New ethnicites"
- focus on ethnic diversity and differences (differentiation among 'blacks')
- foregrounding very specific hyphenated identities like 'British Pakistani'
- other factors of identity become important as well
- critical media representations by non-white authors regarding own ethnic group become more acceptable (one black person criticising another is acceptable now)
71
politics of resistance <-> politics of representation
- two phases follow each other but (can) also co-exist
- -> politics of resistance is by no means over today
72
space
- unites identity & power
- not neutral but fix and naturalise certain ideologies
- spaces are connected to power relations and can influence identity constructions
73
place
Michel de Certeau
- physical shape and geographical position of the location concerned
- relatively static
74
space
Michel de Certeau
= practised place
focus on the ways place is used/constructed by people in different ways
- dynamic concept
- central focus on spatial practices (active role of the space users)
- space also carries ideological and political meanings
75
Place forms the basis of space
- place can limit spatial practices,
- meanings/identities can be constructed differently by different space users within the limits set by place
76
spatial turn
space
attention to space and spatial representation in many disciplines and media from the 1990s onwards
- development from traditional cultural geography to 'new' cultural geography that made cultural studies interested in "spaces" from the 1980s onward
Cultural Studies
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