Summary Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice, 5th edition (Barker &Jane) + Required extra Readings for CS
Cultural Studies Year 1 International Studies lecture notes
All for this textbook (12)
Written for
Universiteit Leiden (UL)
International Studies
Cultural Studies
All documents for this subject (19)
1
review
By: jjlaxton • 4 year ago
Seller
Follow
Donnavaneerd
Reviews received
Content preview
Chapter 2
Key concepts
Culture: word, not a thing, and the meaning lies in its use, so we should look at how the word
culture is used and for what purposes.
High culture: Arnold: “the best that has been thought and said in the world”.
* Cultural materialism: culture understood through representations and practices of daily life
in the context of material conditions of their productions.
Connections between cultural practice and political economy, so we should explore
culture in terms of:
● Institutions.
● Formations (=schools etc.).
● Modes of production.
● Identifications and forms of culture.
● Reproduction (selective tradition).
● Organization of the selective tradition.
# Marxism: historical materialism, attempts to relate production and reproduction of culture to
the organization of the material conditions in life. Main idea: culture is determined by
production and organization of material existence:
Base-superstructure: mode of production (base): economy, constituted by means of
production (machinery, factories etc.) and relations of production (class).
Base shapes cultural superstructure.
Culture is political, because: (1) expressive of social relations of class power (2) naturalizes
the social order as a ‘fact’ (3) it obscures underlying relations of exploitation.
Therefore, culture is ideological (ideology: meanings that purport to be universal
truths → myths Barthes).
Ideology: (1) general: binding and justifying ideas of any social group (2) Marx: production of
ideology interwoven with material production (3) Althusser: Ideological State Apparatuses,
ideology as lived experience not false, but as misrecognition of real conditions false,
involved in reproduction of social formations.
Hegemony: (1) see Gramsci (2) cultural studies: culture comprised of multiple streams of
meaning, but one is dominant. Hegemony is the process of making, maintaining and
reproducing these authoritative meanings.
Key thinkers
Raymond Williams:
- Began as a noun of the process connected to growing crops (cultivation).
- Later: cultivated person: about human mind/spirit.
- Culture as a ‘whole way of life’ (emphasized lived experience).
- Working-class experience/everyday construction of culture.
- Two aspects: (1) known meanings and directions (2) new observations and
meanings.
Two senses: (1) whole way of life/common meanings (2) arts and learning/discovery
and creative effort.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller Donnavaneerd. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.21. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.