Key Concepts for the Study of Culture

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Inhalt
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Meanings and Functions of Culture and Cultural Key Concepts 1
Major Characteristics of Cultures 2 · Selected Key Concepts for an Understanding of Cultures 9 · Definitions of and Approaches to Culture 12 · Implications of the Meaning-Oriented, Semiotic Understanding of Culture 15 · Dealing With the 'Other' 25 · Basic Differences between Cultures 29 · Major Functions of Culture 33 · Aims and Structure of this Book 34 · Bibliography 39
VERA NÜNNING

2. Cultural Ways of Worldmaking 43
Premises for Understanding Ways of Worldmaking 44 · Getting Things Wrong in the Sixteenth Century: 'Bloody Mary' and 'Fake News' 46 · Visual Ways of Worldmaking 50 · Narrative as a Means of Worldmaking 59 · Ways of (Narrative) Worldmaking in Cultural History Books 62 · Getting Things Wrong Today: Common Misconceptions and Processes of Worldmaking 72 · Conclusion 80 · Bibliography 81
VERA NÜNNING

3. Emotions 85
'Irrational' Emotions? Definitions 86 · Culture and Emotions 88 · Redefining Emotions in the Eighteenth Century: The Culture of Sensibility as a Case Study of Cultural Change 90 · Discourses Involved in Changing the Role of the Emotions in the Eighteenth Century 95 · The Role of Material Culture with Regard to the New Appreciation of Emotions 102 · Social Practices and Institutions Expressing and Influencing the New Understanding of the Emotions 105 · Criticism of the Culture of Sensibility 108 · Lasting Impact and Further Changes 112 · Bibliography 115
VERA NÜNNING, CORINNA ASSMANN

4. Civilization 119
Introduction: Civilization, Cultural Studies and Norbert Elias 119 · 'Civilization': History, Politics, Aesthetics 121 · Civilization and the 'Saddle Period' 122 · Case Studies: Christopher Columbus, Cotton Mather, Philip Freneau 127 · Culture as a Civilizing Process: Norbert Elias and Cultural Studies 136 · Bibliography 143
PHILIPP LÖFFLER

5. Performance (Studies) and Performativity 147
Introduction Definitions 147 · The Study of Performance Before Performance Studies: Some Foundations in Philosophy 151 · The Birth of the Discipline in Anthropology, Ethnography and Sociology 153 · Performative Theories of Language: Austin and Derrida 157 · Performance, Performativity, and Identity: Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu 160 · Performance Studies Today: An Interdisciplinary Discipline 162 · Bibliography 165
MARGIT PETERFY

6. Identity: Cultural Ways of Making Selves 169
Defining Selves and Identities 171 · Culture, Narrative and Identity 178 · Creating Selves in the Twenty-First Century 182 · Collective Identities 187 · Us vs. Them: The 'War on Terror' Narrative as a Mode of Stabilizing Collective Identity in Times of Crisis 191 · Building Bridges: Functions of Narrative 198 · Bibliography 200
VERA NÜNNING

7. Intersectionality in/and Cultural Studies 205
Introduction 205 · Academic Precursors: The Rise of Race, Class and Gender Studies 207 · The Grounds of Identity: Inwardness Around 1800 213 · Contemporary Responses 218 · Problems of Definition 221 · Conclusion: The Uses of Intersectionality 225 · Bibliography 226
PHILIPP LÖFFLER

8. Visual Studies and Culture 231
Introduction: What Is the 'Visual Turn' and Why Should It Concern Us? 231 · How Images Work: Neurophysiological, Cognitive and Psychological Foundations 236 · A (New) World of Man-Made Images 239 · The 'Pictorial Turn' and Symbolic and Interpretative Constellations 244 · The Politics of Visibility: The Power of Images 248 · Bibliography 254
MARGIT PETERFY

9. Globalization and Cultural Studies 259
Introduction 259 · Globalization 261 · Globalization and the End of the Cold War 263 · Conclusion: Globalization and Cultures of Unpredictability 271 · Bibliography 272
PHILIPP LÖFFLER

10. Material Culture and Intermediality 275
Introduction From Material Culture to Intermediality 275 · The Philosophy of Material Culture: From Cultural Materialism to Neo-Materialist Interpretations 276 · Hermeneutic Approaches and Some Influential Methodological Frameworks 279 · Material Culture in Books Books as Material Culture 282 · Intermediality: From the 'Sister Arts' to 'Media Convergence' 285 · Bibliography 290
MARGIT PETERFY

11. Cultural Memory 295
Culture and Memory 296 · Individual and Collective Memory 296 · Characteristics and Functions of Cultural Memory 301 · The 'Indian Mutiny' or Rebellion as a British and Indian Site of Memory 306 · Conclusion 316 · Bibliography 319
CORINNA ASSMANN, VERA NÜNNING

12. Culture and Values 323
Why Values? 325 · Definitions and Characteristics of Values 328 · Cultural Hierarchies of Values 333 · The Significance and Functions of Values 337 · Hierarchies of Values in Eighteenth-Century Britain 341 · Challenges to Major Hierarchies of Values in the Twenty-First Century 351 · Open Questions and Challenges 353 · Bibliography and Recommendations for Further Reading 356
VERA NÜNNING

List of Illustrations 359