Geertz: Social Anthropology
Symbolic anthropology studies symbols and the processes,such as myth and ritual, by which humans assign meanings to these symbols to address fundamental questions about human social life (Spencer 1996:535). According to Geertz, man is in need of symbolic "sources of illumination" to orient himself with respect to the system of meaning that is any particular culture (1973a:45). Turner states that symbols initiate social action and are "determinable influences inclining persons and groups to action" (1967:36). Geertz's position illustrates the interpretive approach to symbolic anthropology, while Turner's illustrates the symbolic approach.
Carey: Communication
Two alternative conceptions of communication have been alive in American culture since this term entered common discourse in the nineteenth century. Both definitions derive, as with much in secular culture, from religious oirigins, though they refer to somewhat different regions of religious experience. We might label these descriptions, if only to provide handy pegs upon which to hang our thought, a transmission view of communication and a ritual view of communication.
The transmission view of communication is the commonest in our culture–perhaps in all industrial cultures–and dominates contemporary dictionary entries under the term. It is defined by terms such as "impaffing," "sending," "transmitting," or "giving information to others." It is formed from a metaphor of geography or transportation. In the nineteenth century but to a lesser extent today, the movement of goods or people and the movement of information were seen as essentially identical processes and both were described by the common noun "communication." The center of this idea of communication is the transmission of signals or messages over distance for the purpose of control. It is a view of communication that derives from one of the most ancient of human dreams: the desire to increase the speed and effect of messages as they travel in space. From the time upper and lower Egypt were unified under the First Dynasty down through the invention of the telegraph, transportation and communication were inseparably linked. Although messages might be centrally produced and controlled, through monopolization of writing or the rapid production of print, these messages, carried in the hands of a messenger or between the bindings of a book, still had to be distributed, if they were to have their desired effect, by rapid transportation. The telegraph ended the identity but did not destroy the metaphor. Our basic orientation to communication remains grounded, at the deepest roots of our thinking, in the idea of transmission: communication is a process whereby messages are transmitted and distributed in space for the control of distance and people.
Guy Debord: Commodity as Spectacle
In the realm of film and television, promotional culture is often a key
and indistinguishable part of the artistic product. Behind corporate conglomerates’
horizontal and vertical integration and plans for synergistic
conquest of the audience are frequently videogames, posters, ad campaigns,
merchandise lines, toys, and trailers that are active sites for the creation,
consumption, and enjoyment of the narrative. Many of these “spinoffs,”
“extratextuals,” and “peripherals” surround film and television texts with
hype, generating revenue themselves at times but also serving the larger goal
of directing audiences to the film, show, or franchise. Comparatively little
has been written about them, even though they command an inordinately
large amount of public space.
Adorno: Pop music snob
Adorno believes that there are 'two spheres of music'. He calls these, serious and popular music. In this article, Adorno talks about the differences between the two. He talks about 'standardisation', how all popular music is the same. It repeatedly uses the same subjects and the same rules.
In comparison, he says that every detail of a serious piece of music is unique, if notes were missing the music would not be the same. Unlike popular music where, 'every detail is substitutable; it serves its function only as a cog in a machine' (Adorno, On Popular Music, 1941). Therefore, to listen to this music you don't need to think or be engaged.
Symbolic anthropology studies symbols and the processes,such as myth and ritual, by which humans assign meanings to these symbols to address fundamental questions about human social life (Spencer 1996:535). According to Geertz, man is in need of symbolic "sources of illumination" to orient himself with respect to the system of meaning that is any particular culture (1973a:45). Turner states that symbols initiate social action and are "determinable influences inclining persons and groups to action" (1967:36). Geertz's position illustrates the interpretive approach to symbolic anthropology, while Turner's illustrates the symbolic approach.
Carey: Communication
Two alternative conceptions of communication have been alive in American culture since this term entered common discourse in the nineteenth century. Both definitions derive, as with much in secular culture, from religious oirigins, though they refer to somewhat different regions of religious experience. We might label these descriptions, if only to provide handy pegs upon which to hang our thought, a transmission view of communication and a ritual view of communication.
The transmission view of communication is the commonest in our culture–perhaps in all industrial cultures–and dominates contemporary dictionary entries under the term. It is defined by terms such as "impaffing," "sending," "transmitting," or "giving information to others." It is formed from a metaphor of geography or transportation. In the nineteenth century but to a lesser extent today, the movement of goods or people and the movement of information were seen as essentially identical processes and both were described by the common noun "communication." The center of this idea of communication is the transmission of signals or messages over distance for the purpose of control. It is a view of communication that derives from one of the most ancient of human dreams: the desire to increase the speed and effect of messages as they travel in space. From the time upper and lower Egypt were unified under the First Dynasty down through the invention of the telegraph, transportation and communication were inseparably linked. Although messages might be centrally produced and controlled, through monopolization of writing or the rapid production of print, these messages, carried in the hands of a messenger or between the bindings of a book, still had to be distributed, if they were to have their desired effect, by rapid transportation. The telegraph ended the identity but did not destroy the metaphor. Our basic orientation to communication remains grounded, at the deepest roots of our thinking, in the idea of transmission: communication is a process whereby messages are transmitted and distributed in space for the control of distance and people.
Guy Debord: Commodity as Spectacle
The Commodity as Spectacle The commodity can only be understood in its undistorted essence when it becomes the universal category of society as a whole. Only in this context does the reification produced by commodity relations assume decisive importance both for the objective evolution of society and for the stance adopted by men towards it. Only then does the commodity become crucial for the subjugation of men's consciousness to the forms in which this reification finds expression.... As labor is progressively rationalized and mechanized man's lack of will is reinforced by the way in which his activity becomes less and less active and more and more contemplative.
Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism
cultural materialism. This book was in part a response to structuralism in literary studies and pressure on Williams to make a more theoretical statement of his own position against criticisms that it was a humanist Marxism, based on unexamined assumptions about lived experience.
Paul Willis: Symbolic Creativity
"Every day is full of ideas which, although they are not art, share the same
symbolic creativity of art processes."
Language, active body, drama, symbolic creativity. "Remaking the world for
ourselves"
Jonathan Gray: Blowing up the brand
In the realm of film and television, promotional culture is often a key
and indistinguishable part of the artistic product. Behind corporate conglomerates’
horizontal and vertical integration and plans for synergistic
conquest of the audience are frequently videogames, posters, ad campaigns,
merchandise lines, toys, and trailers that are active sites for the creation,
consumption, and enjoyment of the narrative. Many of these “spinoffs,”
“extratextuals,” and “peripherals” surround film and television texts with
hype, generating revenue themselves at times but also serving the larger goal
of directing audiences to the film, show, or franchise. Comparatively little
has been written about them, even though they command an inordinately
large amount of public space.
Adorno: Pop music snob
Adorno believes that there are 'two spheres of music'. He calls these, serious and popular music. In this article, Adorno talks about the differences between the two. He talks about 'standardisation', how all popular music is the same. It repeatedly uses the same subjects and the same rules.
In comparison, he says that every detail of a serious piece of music is unique, if notes were missing the music would not be the same. Unlike popular music where, 'every detail is substitutable; it serves its function only as a cog in a machine' (Adorno, On Popular Music, 1941). Therefore, to listen to this music you don't need to think or be engaged.
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