Meaning in action : outline of an integral theory of culture / Rein Raud.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Raud, Rein, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Culture--Semiotic models.

Culture.

Language and culture.

Culture--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

ix, 193 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; Malden, MA : Polity Press, 2016.

Summary:

In this important new book Rein Raud develops an original theory of culture understood as a loose and internally contradictory system of texts and practices that are shared by intermittent groups of people and used by them to make sense of their life-worlds. This theory views culture simultaneously in two ways: as a world of texts, tangible and shareable products of signifying acts, and as a space of practices, repeatable activities that produce, disseminate and interpret these clusters of meaning. Both approaches are developed into corresponding models of culture which, used together, are able to provide a rich understanding of any meaning in action. In developing this innovative theory, Raud draws on a wide range of disciplines, from anthropology, sociology and cultural studies to semiotics and philosophy. The theory is illustrated throughout with examples drawn from both 'high' and popular culture, and from Western and Asian traditions, dealing with both contemporary and historical topics. The book concludes with two case studies from very different contexts - one dealing with Italian poetry in the 13th century, the other dealing with the art scene in Eastern Europe in the 1990s. This timely and original work makes a major new contribution to the theory of culture and will be welcomed by students and scholars throughout the social sciences and humanities. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Looking for culture, looking at things 16

Social/cultural 18

Cultural communities 23

The cultural subject 27

Summary 30

2 Meaning and signification 32

The problem of reference 33

Two kinds of concepts 38

The internalization of meaning 43

Claims and bids 45

Summary 53

3 Culture as textuality 55

Base-texts and result-texts 62

The operational memory 68

Organization of knowledge 70

Standards and codes 78

Summary 85

4 Culture as a network of practices 89

The cultural role: functions and goals of a practice 93

The social position: the carrier and status of a practice 102

Materials and rules 110

Cultural institutions 115

Summary 123

5 Case study I: the metaphysics of Jove and the beginnings of Italian vernacular poetry 125

Italian political landscape in the thirteenth century: the bidding space 126

The poetic context 129

The carriers of the practice 134

The science of love as privileged knowledge 137

Vulgare, the medium 141

Institutions and textuality 144

Summary 148

6 Case study II: art and politics in Eastern Europe in the 1990s 151

The institutions 153

The carriers 158

Textuality, codes and languages 163

Summary 170

7 Concluding remarks 172

A few final words 175.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781509511242

1509511245

9781509511259

1509511253

OCLC:

944339574