Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Session 1: The Study of Culture in a British Context
Culture Civilisation - Nature 18th century: theories about civilisation = theories of conduct/manners/taste formation/cultivation of the mind (context: age of enlightenment) => appropriate and inappropriate behaviour 19th century: Matthew Arnold / F. R. Leavis consolidation and spread of the notion of cultivation of the mind contexts: imperialism, consolidation of a new bourgeois class => show others what is good and bad => Arnold: Sweetness and Light => elitist culture (other cultures are inferior to the British one) => Leavis: only a few have culture and it is their duty to bring it to the rest of society
Matthew Arnold: culture: - the best that has been said and thought in the world - versus anarchy - strife for, and spread of sweetness and light - educational mission - English race as particularly advanced F. R. Leavis: culture has been in minority keeping

Critique of Matthew Arnold and F. R. Leavis: elitist understanding of culture artist = cultural apostle = prophet culture with a capital C /high culture top-down direction of cultural learning/knowledge acquisition only one culture is ideal, the rest is inferior
Richard Hoggart / Raymond Williams (1950s/1960s...) => extension of the concept of culture Williams: culture relates to whole ways of life Hoggart: working class culture
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

=> everything is culture, we live because we have culture, culture is everything (non-elitist approach) CCCS Birmingham => Centre of Contemporary Cultural Studies After structuralism/post-structuralism: => culture as overlapping maps of criss-crossing discursive meaning Circuit of culture:

Example!!

Session 2: The Semiotics of Culture

Representation, definition: => the production of meaning through signs (Hall)

Theories of representation: reflective intentional = language reflects a meaning which already exists outside in the world = language reflects what the speaker wants to say; personally intended meaning

constructionist = meaning is constructed in and through language

Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Linguistic turn: => focusing of philosophy and the humanities on the relationship between philosophy and language Iconic turn: => relationship between icons/pictures and philosophy Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913): Signifier + signified = sign => a sign consists of two parts: material and concept (signifier and signified) => the relation between signifier and signified is arbitrary and thus not fixed => but: it is agreed on within a cultural group at any given time (shared conceptual maps of meaning) Langue and parole (language system vs. language use) Structuralism: concerned with the structures of language which allow people to communicate with each other C. S. Peirce: (Who?) iconic signs: visual signs indexical signs: written or spoken signs Denotation: Is the descriptive and literal level of meaning shared by all members of a culture. => literal meaning of a sign e.g.: "pig" denotes the concept of a pink farm animal with a snout, curly tail... (this sounds somewhat similar to the linguistic sign.) Connotation: Involves meanings that are generated by connecting signifiers to wider cultural concerns. => cultural or emotional coloration in addition to the denotation e.g.: "pig" may connote a nasty police officer, a very messy person... (so connotation involves interpretation) Myth: (Roland Barthes) Connotations that have been accepted as normal and natural and that act as conceptual maps of meaning by which to make sense of the world. Code: => sets up a correlation between concept and language system => which connotation is activated

Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Discourse, definition: (Michel Foucault) => way of representing the knowledge (rather than meaning) about a particular topic at a particular historical moment => produces knowledge => includes language and practice Foucault: Discourse is a way of representing the knowledge about a particular topic at a particular historical moment. It is about the production of knowledge through language. Since all social practices entail meaning, and meanings shape and influence our conduct, all practices have a discursive aspect. (cf. Hall, 44) Foucault sees "... knowledge as always inextricably enmeshed in relations of power because it was always being applied to the regulation of social conduct in practice" (Hall, 47) Discoursive formations: => statements which produce certain discourses Regime of truth: => Truth is created by societies according to values, beliefs, etc. => "Truth," is the construct of the political and economic forces that command the majority of the power within the societal web

Session 3: Oral Culture Scribal Culture Print Culture

Orality Literacy => speaking and listening => writing

The Psychodynamics of Orality and Literacy: Orality Concrete; interested in present use => access predominantly to one person Words have magic power Additive (God created... and... and... and...) You know what you recall (=> rhythmic, formulaic, mnemonic patterns) Senses: oral and aural aggregative/circular (in formulas or clusters => things have to be repeated to memorize them) Conservative Closed universe; fixed social rules Literacy Abstract; interested in present and past (dead) use => knowledge accessible to all Words are labels Subordinative (more complex sentence structures, e.g. relative clauses) You know what you can look up (=> increasingly non-sensual use of language) Senses: visual analytical/linear/chronological (=> what is once written down is always accessible) Memory is free for experiments Open universe
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Social (group orientation)

Individual (read for yourself)

Gutenberg Galaxy: => printed products became accessible for everybody [...] there was nothing in the manuscript phase of alphabetic technology that was intense enough to split the visual from the tactile entirely. It was not until the experience of mass production of exactly uniform and repeatable type, that the fission of the senses occurred, and the visual dimension broke away from the other sense. Autonomous Discourse: =>A book stands for itself, it will always say the same thing. => It can't fend for itself. => It is disconnected from the author. => Ex.: Oracle of Delphi (orality), book (literacy) Backward Scanning: You can always go back in a text and proof a fact. In Orality it is always debatable what sth. was in the beginning. Major Stages and Effects of Print Culture in Britain: 1450s => Johannes Gutenberg invents movable type 1476 => William Caxton opens first printing house in England 1557 => Stationers Company founded, beginning of censorship Late 17th c. => pamphlet wars (too many to censor) Early 18th c. => newspapers and magazines, authors begin to write for market (rather than patron), grub street hacks 1774 => end of perpetual copyright, flood of cheap classics 19th c. => mass readership, cheap printed material (newspapers) 20th c. => increasing copyright protection, paperback revolution 21st c. => digital revolution

Session 4: Visual Culture

Visuality: => In the 20th c. the Gutenberg Galaxy ended when book reading lost influence to visuality. => Visuality is also connected to other fields of study (e.g. architecture, art history, film...) (Beil)

Visual Difference:
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

=> visuality of culture (culture is predominantly visual) => visuality as a separate system of signs (images become their own language) Photographic Paradox: => photo is the exact copy of the original => thus it is value-free (message without code) => pictures have their own message (e.g. the angle the photo is taken in, feelings expressed like joy, fear...) => paradox Techniques of Filmic Representation: => devices used to convey a message (e.g. camera angle, style, colours...) Encoding/Decoding: (Stuart Hall) => can be applied to different media (e.g. books) but is mostly used in film analysis => Dominant Code: what the producers want us to see (e.g. romance) => Negotiated Code: partly agrees with the dominant code but not all is seen as the producers want it (e.g. nice and romantic but shows only carefree upper-class couples) => Oppositional Code: in opposition to the mass (e.g. romance is just commercial shit) Walter Benjamin (1930s): Through photography things can move to places they normally would not make it to. (e.g. Eiffel Tower in my kitchen, famous persons, dead persons...) => loss of authenticity Susan Sontag (1970s): Photos help us to create a new reality through looking at them. Pictures can become reality (make us conscious of something => e.g. KZ-workers in bad condition)

Session 5: Culture and Memory

Material Culture / Materiality: => things you can touch (e.g. monuments, architecture...) Testimony: => certificate that sth. happened (e.g. a paper itself) Icon: => sth. that stands for sth. (e.g. Statue of Liberty) Fetish: => an idea everybody relates to sth. (more than icon) (Example?)
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Cold vs. Hot Cultures (Levi-Strauss): Cold Cultures Conservative (no or little change) Relies heavy on tradition progress Open for new ideas and knowledge (experiments) Hot Cultures

=> there is movement in cultures (mostly from cold to hot) => Europe moved from cold to hot through the Renaissance and the Industrialisation (Enlightenment) Episteme Shift (turn of 18th to 19th century): => knowledge is discontinuous; there are breaks (e.g. earth-centric to sun-centric) => break with old sets of belief Forms of Memory: episodic memory:

=> autobiographic => everybody remembers an event differently => the perception of it changes with age => knowledge systems => how we see things (e.g. red = danger)

semantic memory:

procedural memory: => habituated actions (e.g. how to ride a bike) => to know how to do sth. without thinking about it

Systems of Storage Embodied vs. Externalised: Embodied Memory Things you know Externalised Memory Things you look up

=> e.g. to shake hands as a greeting => memories which are written down somewhere; we rely on them e.g. a cook book

Reference vs. Working Memory: Reference Memory Things you remember in part (e.g. a book title Working Memory Things you constantly need (e.g. phone
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

but not the author) Things you have learnt before (but don't remember all of it) Passive Memory

numbers) Things you have ready in your mind Active Memory

=> things move between reference and working memory The Three Dimensions of Memory Culture: material: social: mental: touch and see (e.g. monuments, books...) rituals, practices, institutions (e.g. schools, holidays...) ideas of history => all the things we believe in (where we came from, ideas, myths; e.g. democracy, Mauerfall...)

=> they overlap

Communicative Memory: => every day memory (e.g. Do you remember last Christmas?) => not institutionalised (no books on it, etc.) Collective Memory: => shared by a group (not the whole community/society) (e.g. family, uni, friends...) Cultural Memory: => gets passed on from one generation to the next => memory of a whole society => institutionalised (e.g. teaching on the era of Nazism in school)

Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

=> =>

Assmann says it takes 80 years for communicative memory to become cultural memory. In between is the floating gap. Criticism: Not always true. Some things are so important for a culture, they become cultural memory instantly (e.g. Wiedervereinigung) (=> Astrid Erll?)

Memory is: memory is socially conditioned memory is not the same as the past, it is a selection and reconstruction memory organizes not only the past but also the present memory is not only a personal affair but groups as a whole create themselves through (shared) memories Cultural Memory is: is concrete in space and time is relevant to group identity (cultural group) is reconstructed has to be stored, activated and communicated in order to be effective

Session 6: The Spatial Dimension of Culture

Space vs. Place: Space Place

Associated with a place (domestic and public Sth. you can touch or stand in it/on it space) => convention, cultural construction e.g. guests are shown to the living room not the bathroom abstract e.g. monument, living room... concrete

Gendered Space (Michel de Certeau): women = domestic space men = public space => where the power is; women were discriminated against Centre, Margin and Boundary: centre: e.g. London centre (where the rich live) margin: e.g. London outskirts (where the poor live) boundary: e.g. London bridge (from poor to rich) => Process of Exclusion (need to exclude, because without a boundary there would be no centre or margin)

Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Simulacrum (Baudrillard): => copy without an original => more perfect than real world => e.g. Disney World, the Gardens of Versailles Spatial Turn: => what we identify with certain spaces is how we see the world City and Modernity (Lefebre): => urbanisation is spreading (even into rural areas) => because cities are that big people become dependent on the exchange with others (=> trade) and laws and order are needed to regulate city life => Simmel: => cities make people numb because of too many impressions => no more production, just consumption => quality less important than quantity

Representation of Urban Spaces: => urban space is political => no neutral access to information (e.g. city guides only show the nice places) => some spaces are associated with sth. (e.g. higher and lower income)

Session 7: Identity and Alterity:

Identity: => what makes me me => from Latin idem the same Parameters of Identity: => gender, generation, race, ethnicity, class, age, etc. Alterity: => what am I not => from Latin alter the other Constructivist Approach to Identity (B. Giesen): => identity is constructed in discourse / communication Forms of Identity (according to B. Giesen): Individual: => dependent on friends, job, family... => we wear different identities (e.g. family <=> colleagues) Collective: => shared with a group of people (e.g. sports club => fit, strong, healthy)
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Cultural: => Collective Identity

=> identification with a certain culture (e.g. we celebrate Christmas)

Situation: state of a group => changes Code: rituals, accommodation of new and rules => do not change a) Primordial Code: => sacralization of the natural => rituals of cleansing, rites of passage => accommodation of new: outsider is fundamentally different, cannot be accommodated => e.g. gender, race => exclusive b) Universal Code: => based on ideology/conviction/shared world view => rituals: didactic, sacrifice/martyrdom => accommodation of new: inclusive, based on consent to the groups view => e.g. religion, politics => inclusive c) Traditional Code: => assumption of shared past => rituals: commemorative ceremonies, repetition of founding myths, cultural effort, (reconstruction of the past) => accommodation of new: patterns of behaviour, adherence to the groups traditions, defending traditions and narratives => memory differentiates the group from other groups => competition of pasts => conceptualized locally, preserved places => quasi-exclusive Social Forms (Simmel): a) Social Types (generalization of actors to describe social behaviour): => the type becomes what he is through his relations with others who assign him a particular position and expect him to behave in specific ways b) The Stranger: => an element of the group itself while not being fully part of it => can attain an objectivity that other members cannot reach => a confidant: Confidences that must me withheld from more closely related persons can be given to him just because with him they are not likely to have consequences => may be a better judge between conflicting parties since he is not tied to either of the contenders c) The Group: => appear as fixed entities to the individual => changes can cause crises in the individuals identity => groups are constructed, changeable
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Interrelatedness of Individual and Collective Identity: => individual identity is part of collective identity and vice versa Alterity: => Practices of othering: creating alterity => Autostereotypes: images/ ideas about ones own culture => Heterostereotypes: images / ideas about other cultures => Essentialism (a generalization stating that certain properties possessed by a group (e.g. people, things, ideas) are universal, e.g. all students at universities are arrogant) => Orientalism: Edward Said used the term to describe a Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of prejudiced outsider interpretations of the East, shaped by the attitudes of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Session 8: Generation
Location of Generations or Generational Location (Mannheim): => generation is connected to loose ties => similarity of location within a social whole => people have to share time and place (cultural background) => correspondence to social class => one does not have to be conscious of one's generation (social event is needed to trigger) Actual Generations (Mannheim): => youth experiencing the same concrete historical problems are part of the same actual generation (e.g. youth in Egypt) Incisive Moments: => moments in which member of a generation have the possibility to influence history (and become aware they are a generation) => active/passive generations: realization of potentialities in the location, e.g. Can we change sth. or not? Familial vs. Cultural Generations: a) familial: => time between your own birth until birth of your child (biological) b) cultural: => experiencing certain moments in history; united by a certain cultural event.

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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Session 9: Gender
Gender, Definition (1): => psychological, social, and cultural aspects of maleness and femaleness Three Definitions of Gender (2) (A. Wharton): 1. Collectivist approach: => Gender is socially constructed and made relevant at all levels of society, that means that gender is a social practice that concerns all individuals of a society => Gender is a system for ordering individuals by creating categories according to differences (male/female) 2. Institutionalist approach: => Manifestations of gender in a society go beyond the individual, they feed into institutions of a society ( e.g. language => the person = he) => Once gender reaches institutions if becomes fixed and very difficult to dismantle 3. Individualist approach: => Gender is continuously produced and reproduced by individuals, we all always do gender => Socialisation is the process by which individuals become gendered, we learn what is expected of us as males/females => Approaches one and two are context related (defined by society = social context is needed) Sex: The biological fact (The baby is either a boy or a girl) Gender: The social construction, how we talk about maleness/femaleness on society Masculinity / Femininity: There are two ways of looking at this concept: => The traditional way: there is a strict division between the two, a person is either masculine or feminine => The flexible understanding: The division between the two is not as rigid. It all depends on how we do gender! => e.g. jobs, clothes, hair... Performing / Doing Gender: A society does gender like it does race. The way in which we talk about maleness / femaleness is not pre-given, it is constructed by society. => ideas connected with gender (e.g. cars/dolls, blue/pink) => Gender is not outside discourse (Foucault)
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Heterosexual Norm/Matrix: As gender is not outside discourse, it is also subject to the dominant discourse of society: => The heterosexual norm/matrix is the dominant pattern of society, that means that society sees this matrix as usual or as universal. => The dominant discourse of power was by heterosexual men => heterosexuality is the norm Subversion: The act of undermining the dominant discourse, the heterosexual norm (e.g. cross-dressing, transsexual, homosexual, women with short hair, male nurse, CSD, drag queens...)

Session 10: Race and Ethnicity

Race and Ethnicity as doings: A society does race/ethnicity (like gender): => Concepts of race are not pre-given but are social construction of a society => When we use/refer to conversations of race we are (sub)consciously doing race. => Race is not outside discourse (Foucault) => Race is negatively connotated, Ethnicity positively Markus/Moya: There are a number of identifiable, common conversations (= discourses) about race and ethnicity: a. They address questions of human differences associated with race and ethnicity. b. Whenever we have one of these conversations, we do race or ethnicity. c. They implicitly create and maintain a structure of power (by determining who conforms to an ethnic or racial norm and who is different). d. All these conversations (= discourses) have a socio-historical and cultural background and fix the meaning of race and ethnicity. Definitions of race/ethnicity: There are different opinions on this! One Approach: Race/ethnicity as categories of difference: Race: distinct biological characteristic of a species. When applied to humans : culturally determined notions (certain characteristics are associated with a certain race) Human races are a fiction! Ethnicity: Selected cultural characteristics claimed by a group as a shared characteristic sometimes it replaces the term race Historical Emergence of Race: => the idea came up to justify Colonialism and Imperialism (some races are superior to others =>
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Social Darwinism) Social Darwinism: (18th/19th century) => the origins of the race discourse, race as biological => it stresses a line of descent, there are different types of people => race refers to biological and physical categories (e.g. skin colour) and is also often linked to characteristics (e.g. intelligence) => thus racial groups are put into a hierarchy of superiority and subordination Melting Pot (US society) => an (insufficient) notion of doing race/ethnicity => the blending of diversities (we are all one/ the same) => racial differences are no longer apparent, everybody has to blend in with the dominant (white) values/ideas of society; everybody conforms to the norm Race / Ethnicity as Unstable Categories: e.g. Blackness (S. Hall): => Its an unstable identity as its not purely found but constructed => Therefore, it is an identity that has to be learned at a certain time => As time moves on and society shifts, this identity is also subject to change e.g. Italians in the New York of the 1950s: => first they were a distinct minority (Italo-Americans) => now they are just Americans Colonialism: As Europe began to expand racism needed to be justified (Social Darwinism) (M. Arnold) Post-Colonialism: 1948: The Windrush (ship) => First wave of immigrants from Jamaica to the UK 1960s: Institutional racism in the UK => SUS-Law: police could arrest anyone on suspicion => USA in the 1960s Separate but equal division (racial segregation) Black Rights Movement Diaspora Originally refers to Jews living in exile; people displaced from their homeland => often these groups are connected with the idea that they maintain their own cultural beliefs, rituals etc within their community (Fremd im eigenen Land) The Black Atlantic (P. Gilroy, 1993): => refers to the post-colonial identity of black immigrants in the UK => Black British vs Black Atlantic: black immigrants came from different national backgrounds,
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

they were not Black-British, thus their identity should be understood as a black Diaspora of the Atlantic (Jamaica, West-Indies, West Africa...) => they create their own identity Black Politics (S. Hall): Hall: => Essentialist Blackness (Its a black thing) => this refers to the Black Power Movement in the UK of the 1960s/70s => Hall sees blackness as a thing of the past, he thinks people need to move on, thus he talks about new essentialism the creation of new ethnicities => Colour-blindness (no quotas, special laws etc) Multiculturalism: => as a contrast to the melting pot => the focus lies on cultural diversity that is acknowledged, thus, society is made up of many different ethnicities that interact => how the British define their society => sounds more positive

Session 11: Class

Class, Definition: a classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic positions also known as social stratification one parameter of identification dominant pattern: upper class, middle class and lower class Cultural Hegemony (A. Gramsci): => coined by the Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci => claim: a society can be ruled or dominated by one of its social classes => ruling class has the power over all other classes => the ideas of the ruling class come to be seen as the norm; they are seen as universal ideologies => a powerful position has to be constructed and articulated by the whole society => each class has to give consent to the ruling class and their norms Class Discourse in Britain: => last two decades: rejection of the idea that class structure and class analysis are the most important means to understand modern British society and life => constructivist opinion: => class as rhetorical constructs that help to explain the world and social environment => classes never existed as historical phenomena => not the reason for historical changes

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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Session 12: Popular Culture

Ideology: Like pop culture, ideology can be defined differently (two examples): a) Its a body of ideas linked to a particular group of people (eg, the ideology of the Labour Party) b) It refers to power relations => Marxist idea: Ideology to present distorted Images of reality to serve the interest of the dominant group (Capitalist Ideology) => Ideology is sometimes used as a synonym for culture, but in contrast to culture it always has a political dimension. Six Definitions of Popular Culture: 1. Quantitative: Its popular because many people like it => Problem: How many exactly are many? Who defines how much many people are? 2. Anything that is not high culture is pop culture. Pop culture is seen here as consumer culture, something is only culturally worthy if it is difficult. => Problem: This is not historically stable (e.g. Shakespeare was seen as pop culture in his times => this has changed over time!) Also, there is no clear division between pop and high culture. 3. Pop culture is mass culture. Pop culture is thus seen as simply commercial, fit for consumer culture. It is manipulative and made for an audience that will swallow anything. This culture has its origins in America (Americanization). It serves as a form of escape from the dreary every day world. => Problem: This assumes a totally passive consumer. 4. Pop culture is from the people for the people. It is equated with a romanticised view of authentic working-class culture. => Problem: Who exactly are the people? Also, the commercial aspect of pop culture is neglected. 5. Pop culture as the site of struggle between the interests of dominant and subordinate groups in society (Gramsci). It is a terrain of exchange and negotiation based on a compromise between the groups. => Problem: This also assumes a politically active consumer who doesnt consume for the pleasure of consuming. 6. The post-modern idea: There is no longer a distinction between pop culture and high culture. => Problem: That is too easy. Even if there is no difference in theory, in practice people still make that distinction. Frankfurt School => founded in 1923 (with a Neo-Marxist ideology) => members (among others): Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Max Horkheimer, Leo
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Lwenthal, Herbert Marcuse => Pop culture as mass culture functions as a form of social control that is produced by the capitalists to dumb down the masses. This keeps the social order alive and the dominant group in power. Culture Industry (T. Adorno): Pop culture works like an assembly line; it produces mass products. These cultural artefacts are standardized and trivial so the consumer can just consume without having to become active. This lets the masses escape their dreary working life and thus keeps the current power structure alive. => Pop culture woks as Social Cement as it keeps the masses in their places and the capitalists in power. Material Girl as an example of standardized consumer product: Madonna consolidated the idea of materiality because she defines herself over the material. This makes her material herself. She becomes an object of consumption and thus trivial. Materiality expresses repressed desires (Retail Therapy, Soul Shopping). By selling herself she confirms the patriarchal order as she puts the female body on display. Material Girl as an example of consumer empowerment: Madonna constructs and reconstructs her identity. She uses that as a performance of active selfconstruction. Thus, she puts the focus on the pleasure of consumption. Its more about consumption than about meaning (To consume is fun!). By actively constructing her identity she shapes the male gaze (the way she wants to be looked at) and is thus not shaped by it. In this sense she subverts patriarchal discourse, => Madonna is polysemic: She can be read either way! Hegemony (A. Gramsci): There is a constant struggle between the dominant and the subordinated groups in a society. This struggle is characterized by a combination of force and consent that balance each other. Force never dominates, and struggles are temporarily solved by means of consent of the majority. (Its democratic!)

Session 13: Globalisation and Cultural Imperialism / Cultural Regulation

Two types of cultural regulation 1. e.g. by the government: => rules/restrictions on cultural products (e.g. age restrictions on alcohol, films etc.) 2. Struggle over cultural valuability: => What is culturally valuable and what isnt? => What signifying practices represent culturally valuable meaning?
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Domenico Verrina

Cultural Studies Key Terms

Uni Freiburg WS 10/11

Today our society is dominated by media, thus media is crucial for cultural regulation Base / Superstructure (Marxism): => The base determines the superstructure => The base is considered to be the means of production => The superstructure is considered to be the ideas, beliefs etc. of a society => Thus, the social group that controls the base determines the superstructure (what a society thinks) => For Marx the capitalists control the means of production and thus the idea of society => Media reproduces the ideas of the dominant social group thus, keeping the subordinate groups down by constantly reinforcing their dominant ideas. (see also Frankfurt School) Hegemony and Articulation (A. Gramsci): => Hegemony: see pop culture => Articulation: has two meanings a) to express, say something b) to put/join things together => For Gramsci the process of cultural hegemony refers to the constant struggle of the different social groups. This involves expressing and joining ideas that dont naturally fit together. Thus, a compromise/consent among the different social groups and their ideas has to be made. Public Sphere (Habermas): => 18th c: Due to the flood of newspapers etc. in England cultural and political discussions were increasingly held in public spaces (coffee houses). All people could participate in these public debates and had the opportunity to form their own opinions. => All people had the chance to become agents (of change), which formed the basis for a democracy with wide participation. => Here the media (papers) were seen as a source of information that was not controlled by the government. => Habermas does not agree with the last point as he claims that mass media especially is not independent (objective) but functions as a voice of the state (dominant group). Cultural Imperialism: The hegemony of dominant cultures over subordinate ones. This means that some cultural practices are preferred over other ones (those of the dominant groups are generally seen as more valuable as the practices of subordinate groups). This serves as a form of cultural regulation. Thus, some cultural practices become so powerful that they override others.

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