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Steop Literature and Culture - Zusammenfassung I)

Sylvia Mieszkowski – LESSONS 1 – 4

Lesson 1 – Culture and Nature Definitions

 Cultural Studies = an academic field devoted to the study of culture → What is Culture?  “colere” => to till/cultivate land  Colere => to worship “culture” English word since 15th century (OED) same root (Latin: “colere”) as “colony” and “colonise” “culture” not just word but concept problematic because has inscribed:  power structures/hierarchized oppositions  values that produce difference  othering (class; race; gender; sexuality)  exclusion  Culture vs. non-culture (nature; barbarity)  culture vs. Cultures    

Etymology    

from Latin “colere” - “to till”, “to care for”, “to farm” or “cultivate” ‘to artificially improve nature’ to colonize - same root to cultivate

1) “the rearing of certain animals, such as fish, oysters, bees, or the production of natural animal products such as silk” → Agriculture ● ‘to artificially improve nature’ ● ‘to cultivate’ / cultivation ● Nature vs Culture? 2. “The distinctive ideas, customs, social behaviour, products, or way of life of a particular nation, society, people, or period. Hence: a society or group characterized by such customs” + 3. “The philosophy, practices, and attitudes of an institution, business, or other organization.” → values, customs, practices, beliefs shared by a group of people  e.g. corporate culture, ‘frat culture,’ ‘national’ or ‘regional’ cultures, youth culture,… working → shared way of ‘making sense’ of the world - your ‘culture’ (≠ ‘just’ national culture) shapes your understanding of the world! e.g. ‘Academic culture’: 

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The Two Cultures (C.P. Snow): commonalities among members of academic community (attitudes, standards, patterns of behaviour, approaches and assumptions) are more substantial than differences (e.g. “mental patterns” of different “religion or politics or class”) Travelling Concepts (Mieke Bal): the term ‘subject’ refers to completely different things depending on the academic discipline/‘culture’

4. “arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” → Artistic practices and artefacts; ‘High’ vs. ‘Low Culture’

Steop Literature and Culture - Zusammenfassung Culture VS Nature   

Hunter gatherers  agriculture: 15000-11000 years ago Development starts at different places Improvement of a ‘natural state’

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Hierarchized opposition nature vs. culture Nature as hostile or indifferent Progress: Nature has to be overcome/conquered by culture (problematic) Different meanings of nature (geography; animals; reflexes and instincts; women; non-white races etc) depends on your ideology

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N & C in dialectic relationship Interests at stake in all hierarchized dichotomies Meaning of N and C changes as time passes  historicization necessary Nature as ‘other’ of culture but simultaneously as its basis Collapse of dichotomy (=division between two /opposed things): Human nature = to be cultural Gendering of nature vs culture

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not fixed terms both terms (in their dialectical relationship with one another) are subject to change and ideological functions hierarchical relation: culture as ‘improvement’ of nature (brutish, wild); ‘culture gone too far’ VS nature as unavoidable, wholesome (‘how things are supposed to be’)

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Enlightenment philosophy (18th century) very influential to (some of) today’s understandings of ‘nature vs culture’ reason/rationality = human nature → progress/improvement (of self/the world) due to reason = culture → overcoming nature through culture → equating humanity with culture ‘Culture’ in the singular Who was considered to be ‘human’ (= capable of reason)? White men. women, non-white people denied access to ‘culture/cultivation’ (education, financial means...) → were not allowed able to contribute to/participate in it → no participation/contribution as proof of inferior/irrational nature

From Culture (capital ‘C’) to cultures (plural) 

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Early criticism of the Enlightened Eurocentric (= European as superior) definition of culture from Johann Gottfried Herder Ideas on the Philosophy of the History of Mankind (1784-91): “Men of all the quarters of the globe, who have perished over the ages, you have not lived solely to manure the earth with your ashes, so that at the end of time your posterity should be made happy by European culture. The very thought of a superior culture is a blatant insult to the majesty of Nature.” during 19th century this idea was not popular (colonisation, British imperialism) In the mid 20th century a more critical, inclusive, ‘descriptive’ notion of culture from Culture (hierarchical, singular, capital ‘C’) to plural cultures (re)emerges. “It is then necessary […] to speak of ‘cultures’ in the plural: the specific and variable cultures of different nations and periods. But also the specific and variable cultures of social and economic groups within a nation” (89) Inclusion of people who were denied access to culture/cultivation leads to change in the definition of culture

Culture and Power 

‘Culture’ (in all its meanings) is intimately related to  difference  inclusion/exclusion  hierarchies

Steop Literature and Culture - Zusammenfassung

      o o o o

→ questions of power → often based on identity categories/‘groups’ (race, gender, class, desire) Othering: the simultaneous construction of the self or in-group and the ‘Other’ or out-group in mutual and unequal opposition ‘to cultivate / cultivation’ ‘artificially improve nature’ → ‘artificially improve human nature’ (physically and spiritually) Ancient rome: cultura animi - the development of a philosophical soul (Cicero) English (from 16th century onwards): “The training and improvement of the human body” “The devoting of attention to or the study of a subject or pursuit” Who has access to the process of cultivation? Who is considered to be a cultivated person (hygiene/grooming? knowledge? taste? manners?) What kind of practices/artefacts are involved in the process of cultivation? (High vs Low Culture) What kind of norms are implied in notions of cultivation/ ‘the cultivated’? Who gets to set these norms?

Lesson 2 – Representations and Ideology Representation      

De Saussure: “Something which stands for or denotes another symbolically; an image, a symbol, a sign.” referent – signifier – signified Human beings use signs to create meaning, to make sense of the world via the practice of representation representations (sounds, letters, images...) are not the same thing as the actual material object in the real world.  e.g. Tree (concept) ≠ an actual Tree representation adds an extra level and are always distorted to some extent Example: René Magritte, La trahison des images [Ceci n'est pas une pipe] (1929)  Word Painting  shows representation of something isn’t the thing it stands for

Ideology  

Definition (one of many): Andreas Mahler: ideology as “interessierter Sinn” - “meaning making with an interest at stake”. The creation of art and their interpretation are structured/underpinned by some agenda (not necessarily intentional) - How a text (not just verbal) is made and read is always determined by ideology

Maps     

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Maps as representations of ‘real’ space / a ‘real’ place What information is communicated (produced and received) via a map (both intentionally and unintentionally)? Representations (e.g. maps) are cultural products; suffused with/structured by ideology → influence our understanding of the world (meaning making) representations shaped by ideologies stabilise hierarchies according to which power is distributed There is always distortion in representation - not necessarily bad! (e.g. map needs to be smaller than the place it represents)  But we need to be aware of it (question the ideological agenda and implications)! Analysing representations critically is extremely important for Cultural Studies Representations can be questioned, contested and changed (activist side of Cultural Studies)

mappa mundi (late 12th century)   

T-and-O-/ O-and-T-map - orbis terrarum, T-shaped sea, mare magnum, (the Mediterranean) at the centre only represent three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. East - top; the south (meridies) - right hand side; Africa – bottom right corner, north - left Judeo-Christian worldview (literally): Jerusalem at the centre, Jesus in frame in the top corner (he resides over everything, gives orientation, religion literally provides frame for everything)

Steop Literature and Culture - Zusammenfassung     

Representation of the world; T – and – O – Map “circle of lands”  only Asia, Europe and Africa (only known continents at that time) Jerusalem at centre (most important place) Christ in majesty (life after death  Christ above the world)  gives everything meaning (under his feet: Eden (represents human world) Mix of real and mythical places (columns of Hercules)  reflects beliefs and core values

Analysis of “The West Wing S2 E6”   

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Map  false representation of world Question of social equality: size = importance and power (misrepresentation of country  valued less) Maps are cultural products (up vs. down; superior vs. inferior; rich vs. poor) o Gerardus Mercator; map 1569 o James Gall; cylindrical projection 1885 o Arno Peters; equal area map 1974 Boston educational board  2 pupils: different education (= different world-view) but same age/town Clip operates on 3 levels: 1) Entertainment; 2) world views and the power of distortion; 3) allegory for Cultural Studies; Ideological agenda behind certain representations (What shapes our world-view?)  C.S wants to make a difference in the world

Representations of the Queen

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a) Portrait of Queen Elisabeth II for her Silver Jubilee (1977): general features of royal portraits (message: calm, order, stability, “I’m in control”) b) Sex Pistols: “God Save the Queen”  picture of Queen stripped and lyrics attached to eyes and mouth; Lyrics similar to British National Anthem; Lyrics Meaning from the Sex Pistols: the people are instrumentalised; Queen is not a human; no future; subvert the ideology of monarchy; punk  revolutionize the system c) 1985 Andy Warhol: Queen as pop icon instead of ’political figure’, commercialisation and serialisation (4 pictures); no ‘originals’ any more, just references d) V-for Vendetta (within fictional universe): fascist homophobic leader as a queen (coll. term for gay man); Queen as head of constitutional monarchy subversive for fascist leader, constitutional monarchy as anti-establish mentalism Subversion = the undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution.  The same symbols/signs do not always mean the same thing. They can be contested, negotiated, subverted, appropriated... high vs. pop culture (problematic dichotomy): pop culture does not necessarily go hand in hand with subversion & high culture does not necessarily go hand in hand with stabilising the existing order

Raymond Williams born 1921 in Wales one of the founding fathers of Cultural Studies (very young discipline) working class background BUT went to Cambridge  became a professor in Cambridge Interest in adult education and politically active (Marxist; left-wing); very anti-Thatcher “Culture and Society (1958)” - foundational text for CS  how def. of culture has changed historically  experience, upbringing, background (working class) and politics (Marxist) are crucial factors for his academic thinking → influential for his concept of culture and Cultural studies at large  Culture as “a particular way of life”.  “Culture is ordinary” (1958): Culture is nothing ‘exceptional’ (see understanding of culture as capital C- ; high Culture) but everyday practices and activities  “low” culture should receive the same kind of academic attention high culture receives  Pioneer in study of popular culture     

Steop Literature and Culture - Zusammenfassung Lesson 3 – Arnold; Marxism Matthew Arnold       

1822-1888; poet, literary and social critic teacher, school inspector; Professor of Poetry (Oxford) “Dover Beach” (1867) travelled a lot in Britain (railway) in close contact with educational system for decades essays collected into “Culture and Anarchy” (1869) male working class suffrage (Reform Acts in 1832 and 1867) worried Arnold

“franchise” from French: ‘freedom of expression’ “suffrage” from Latin “suffragium”: ‘support’, ‘ballot’, ‘vote’.  

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vote without education (= culture)  anarchy; no female/gay…voters (men = better sex) what happens when uneducated people get a say in political decision-making?  Solution: If working-class men get the vote, they have to be educated enough to be able to use it for the good of the country. Culture associated with reading/education  quality of the read = value Arnolds Definition of Culture: o Culture is “a pursuit of total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world” o “the best knowledge and thought of the time, and a true source, of sweetness and light” o It seeks to do away with classes; to make the best that has been thought and known in the world current everywhere  Protection against “blind faith in machinery (industrial age!) and anarchy/disorder”  Strives for perfection  Culture equated with “humanity”  wanted to lift the people beyond materialism (money < thought)  High Culture could be used to educate the masses  Normative view on culture  Demanded democratization of art & widened access to certain forms of culture  Popular culture as not conducive to happiness/ as dumbing down of the masses  Knowledge about history, philosophy, art, literature deemed to be civilizing, humanizing, politically stabilizing as form of social control

Canon = collection of books one ‘has to have read’ to be considered ‘cultivated’ pieces in the canon to be considered ‘good quality’ collection initially exclusively male and white → question of power: who gets to decide what is part of the canon? Who has access to the necessary education to become a canonical writer?  heavily criticised!  3 approaches to changing the canon: o counter-canon o rejection of all canons o broadening of the canon  still in the process/struggle of being broadened !

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Matthew Arnold vs. Raymond Williams Matthew Arnold:   

“[culture is] the best which has been thought and said in the world” (1869: 6) “culture being a pursuit of our perfection” “sweetness and light of the few must be imperfect until the raw and unkindled masses of humanity are touched with sweetness and light” (1869: 7) → culture is only what we would consider ‘high culture’ and must be spread to the masses → popular culture as dumbing-down the masses and as anarchy

Steop Literature and Culture - Zusammenfassung → culture focused on reading and written work Raymond Williams: 

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“speak of ‘cultures’ in plural: the specific and variable cultures of different nations and periods, but also the specific and variable cultures of social and economic groups within a nation” (Williams about Herder in 1983: 89) “a particular way of life” (1983: 90) “the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity” (1983: 90) → many definitions and understandings to be considered and given room in the debate → ‘everything’ can be (part of) a culture/cultural practice(s)

Stuard Hall           

1932-2014; teacher, cultural theorist; campaigner Born in Jamaica; came to Britain in 1951  ‘Windrush generation’ ; Familiar Stranger Oxford; left for London and co-wrote The Popular Arts (1964) Started a Richard Hoggart’s research fellow at newly founded Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham University Later became the CCCS’s director; helped make cultural studies a success: focus on taking ‘low culture’ seriously Marxist scholar; interested in mass media & popular forms; ethnicity; gender and thus interlacing of power and culture Consumers as actively (and perhaps unexpectedly) responding rather than passively manipulated critical of Thatcher’s “authoritarian populism”, later of Blair; against nuclear armament Professor of sociology at Open University (adult teaching) Activist to promote interests of multi-ethnic Britain Fellow of British Academy

Culture through Hall’s eyes 

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“Cultural studies has multiple discourses [...]. It was always a set of unstable formations” (1992: 263) → culture not something stable but rather consumers of culture as active participants of the meaning making “Again and again, the so-called unfolding of cultural studies was interrupted [...] by exterior forces; the interruption, as it were, of new ideas, which decentred the accumulating practice of the work.” (1992: 268) → e.g. feminism ‘breaking in’ → canon had to be broadened!

Hall in a Nutshell    

‘culture(s)’ is/are never fixed culture(s) / cultural practices / representations always have multiple meanings consumers play an active role in ‘decoding’ representation “There’s always something de-centered about the medium of culture” (1992:271)

Karl Marx - Marxism 1818-1883 industrialisation full on at the time: 14h work day, low wages, child labour, …. history is a series of battles over who controls the building blocks of material conditions o the materials and means of production o the labour power → who controls what; who is in power; objectification of workers (workers referred to as ‘hands’ in industrialisation  Workers are machine-like creatures)  a commodity has  use value (stable figure of value); exchange value (dependent on supply and demand)  worker-wages (largely) do not change though!  Alienation  from product: worker only knows one step;  from other workers: none share steps  human needs subordinated to maximising profit  humans as objects, as machine like creatures, as tools; twisted priorities   

Steop Literature and Culture - Zusammenfassung 

One can only start thinking about producing and appreciating art once the basic needs covered (food, clothing, shelter, …) → we can only judge art correctly having considered it’s production!

base and superstructure  

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Base  means of production; relations of production Superstructure  art, literature, religion, law, … → base the more ‘real’ of the two and regarded more important of the two in Marxism → superstructure can’t be explained without considering what makes up the base Base and superstructure in dialectic relationship with each other → spiral; stabilising each other ideology = “false kind of consciousness” → superstructure controlled by those in power (remember last week: representations shaped by ideologies stabilise hierarchies according to which power is distributed) ideology as “false consciousness” → means of making the workers not see that they are being exploited → only way out? Revolution!

poem analysis vocabulary             

Sonnet: poem with 14 lines, usually split into 8+6 lines (petrarchan) or 4+4+4+2 (Sh.) lines verse/line: The rhythm that structures the lines of a poem stanza: “paragraph” in a poem - german: Strophe quatrain: stanza consisting of 4 lines, in Sonnet: rhyming 4 line groups octet: (octave) stanza consisting of 8 lines, in (petr.) Sonnet: group of eight lines at the beginning sestet: in Sonnet: set of six lines, sometimes stanza consist. of 6 lines (usually ...