Introduction to Cultural studies

• Sex vs. gender
• nature (biological) vs. nurture (social construct)
• female/male vs. feminin/masculin
• ⇛ Importance of distinction

• Behavior:
• Femininity -> subordination
• passivity
• teamwork
• harmony
• sense of maternity
• dependece
• weakness

• masculinity ->
• dominant behavior
• agressivness
• competition
• leader
• success
• independence
• strength

dress code /body postures

• femininity ->
• dress, skirt
• exposure of bare skin
• attractiveness
• keep arms and legs close to the body

• masculinity ->
• wide fit, freedom of movement /physical power
• emphasis on muscles
• expansive&aggressive
• arms and hands away from the body

language

• femininity ->
• non-aggressive
• polite expressions
• asks a lot of questions
• higher frequencies

• masculinity ->
• aggressive / loud
• less polite expressions
• interrupt conversations, short sentences
• deep voice

⇛ Clusters of social definitions are ideals, mirror-images and super-stereotypes

• started at the end of 19th century (hunters, sportsmen, fishermen ⇾ overuse
• urbanization /industrialization started

• 1890-1920:
• conservation movement
• progressive era Theodor Rosevelt
• foundet national parks in 1906
• John Nuir still wanted huntig

• 1930:
• Franklin D. Rosevelt
• great depression -> new jobs to help the environment
• started reformation because of dust bowl (planting new trees)

• 1945:
• demonstrations against nuclear tests, dams, pesticides, noise, water/air poloution, waste,

• 1960:
• modern environmentalism started

• 1980:
• Ronald Reagon focused more local (anti-gun, pro animal rights)
• Bill Mc Kibbon started about problems with fossil fuels
• foundet organization "350org" (focused on jobs and buying lacaly)
• hopes for deep economy -> think globaly, more quality, stop climate change

"Sweet spot" :

point where you can´t be happier anymore

• By now:
• big protest because of big pielines (Obama stopped it)
• "individual fight´s" -> NGO´S

• 1. general process of development
• eg:
• religion, western world, changes over time, slavery, individual-freedom
• 2. way of life (people, period, humanity)
• eg:
• patriotic, lifestyle, American Dream
• 3. works and practices
• eg:
• musicals, film, music, photography, literature
• 4. religious freedom like:
• mormons, baptists, Armish, puritons

• culture <-> cultivation <-> civilization
• ⇣                       ⇣                      ⇣
• mental         education           materialism

• negative touch -> propaganda..
• deviding things up -> subcultures
• culture - vulture -> stealing culture and miss-use it

• Incoorporation with others
• constantly have an influence and changing the culture

• selective
• feudal culture (poor class)
• bourgois culture ( middle class)
• -> main stream
• -> po´werful/control
• powerstructures (church, government, uni...)
• disseminate ideologies
• Examples: consumerism, focus on individuality

• oppostit of dominant / against it
• new alternativ
• "Ideologies/ideas"
• changes
• subcultures
• created constanty by groups and individuals
• confrontional
• Examples: Hippi culture

• can go strongly against dominant or together
• residue=leftover/rest
• influenced by past/old prctices and still active today -> thanksgiving
• Examples: organized religions, rural comunities monarchy, puritans, literature, frontierthesis, "the sun is rising"

meeting point between savagery (free land) and civilisation (settlers)

• foundet in 1776
• 1790-1890: settled the continent
• in europe: no free land=war
• new culture/new men -> adapt (no survivors)

• Influenced by geography:mountains, lakes, rivers, tribes, natives
• influenced by transportation: rail roads, ships(steam boats), horses, telephone
• natural recources:mining, coal, copper, gold, crops, cotton, rice, tabacco
• social conditions:indian war (to get more land) ->some states were bought

• east organise the settlement (land)
• west has own money (wildcat banking) ->no more east coast
• west -> no law, east was stricter
• east did sent teachers (school mums)
• east sent missiononaries

• positive outlook of life (everything will be good)
• individuals
• hard working
• inventive
• its about size (the bigger the better)

• 1960 they found it out
• they think "we´re the best" (white culture) dont care about the others
• against native americans, blacks, women (except school mums)
• dont care about nature

• Residual: from right now
• emergent: from settling the land
• dominant: 1890

• indigenious people
• tribal names eg. cheyenne
• 500 tribes(nations)
• warrior and horse culture
• pan indian: all tribes come together
• savage indian: blood thirsty
• noble indian: better than white people
• inadian maiden:
• pocahontas story
• tonto inadians: cant speak english

• speaking official native american language
• "whiteman´s rule ->BIA enrollment card
• dark growing men with long black hair
• 1/4 blood =indian
• land/reservation/city
• need to be recognized (by law) -> BIA bureau of indians affairs

• prove of beeing a real indian
• you are an "official indian"

everytime its the white person who wins (in western movies)

• prejudicees by other indians
• rediciolous many categories
• ironic

• apperience
• language and history of tribe
• traditions

• novels:glorified strong indians /warriors
• movies:john wayne, Billy Jack -> wrong pictures ofnative americans

• white people play native americans
• tonto-> first native american actor but to "dumb"

warriors

no real native american role model

• black people -> no superheroes
• barbiedolls/models->have to be skinny

• subcultures are emergent(willams)-> people are not willing to follow dominant style
• subculture:youth (express aourself ->media) polarisation -> discontent (unhappiness)

• different groups from mainstream society
•                ⇣                     ⇣

•            discontent          "normal" people
• ⇛a smaler cultural group within a larger cultural group with beliefs, interests, lifestyles that go against the larger group
• no single person can built a subculture
• people need to be unhappy to build one
• eg: Teddy boys

• Sign = anything that conveys meaning (alles zusammen)
• signifier= sound or word (schrift)
• signified= concept (in the mind)(Bild)

• linguistic message: caption, labels=symbolic mesage
• coded iconic message: (signs that consist of signified an signifier)
• can be read in any order= symbolic message, cultural message
• non-coded iconic message:(signs are not coded, for objects the following is true: signifier=signified)
• =literal message, perceptual message

• code:french language
• supported by captions (marginal) and labels
• message is denotational (pasta and pasta souce from a french company) and connotioal (italianicity of the brand

• necessary to understand it=basic knowledge of objects and perception ->literal message
• in real life, people do not differenciate between non coded and coded iconic message or cultural en perceptual

• since the arrival of bookprint, there is always a combination of written word and image
• anchorage: (word and image are hinting at the same idea):words focus our gaze ->adds
• relay:wordsand images are different, words drive the plot-> comic, strips, cartoons

• always linked to symbolic message of image/innocent or utopian without code ->naturalness
• relationship between signified and signifier is of recording
• opposition of symbolic code and non coded naturalness -> denoted image naturalizes conoted message

• lexical unit =lexia=image (depends on reader on certain knowledge
• lexicon=a portion of the symbolic plane (of language) which corresponds to a body of practices and techniques. ech person has a number of lexicons that formhis/her ideolect

• linguistic
• denoted
• conodet

• america as beacon, new jerusalem, city upon a hill
• "rags to riches"legend (horatio Alger)

• Old dream:
• traditional message taught that succes trough hart work, frugalty
• new dream:
• easier way, no hard work

• B.Franklin
• Lincoln and M-L King

• Gameshows, state lottery
• irony: 50% taxes -> no financial independence, no hard work
• only need a bit luck to win lottery

• legal system tries to held injured
• fake injury or self injuries
• example: MCDonalds 3 Mio. because of hot coffe spill

• Negative attitudes->against malls
• "feeling lost"
• young local women - shopping as heaven, addiction
• history of mals in general: entertaiment park, mall dying, mall as celebrity
• a lot of garbage
• ⇛people in the mall are out of control, just what happend in the mall is important

• malls=cathedral of consumption (not his own words)
• bourgois ideology
• mall goers(unemployed young women take away free stuff) window shopping
• ⇛mall use public spaces where the power of the weak is most obvious and tolerated

• indoor stores
• food court, cinema, amusement pars, anchor store, hotels...
• since 1990s they´re dying (to many malls)
• first mall structures in greece, rome and syria

social spaces where cultures meetm, clash and grapple with each other, often in context of highly assymetrical relations of power, such as colonialism, slavery or their aftermaths

• a personal anecdote about her son, use baseball cards to learn.(Phonetics, geography, maths, social values...)
• analysis of Guam Poma´s "New chronicle and the good government"
• communities
• classroom contact zone

• 1613: sent letter to spanish king, got lost, found again in 1803 in denmark
• autoethnography (about oneself through eyes of other person)
• wrote bilingual:quechua and spanish (2languages=2cultures)
• against colonialism of spanish

transculturation happens in contact zone -> brings to cultures together, use them critical

• -> a good way to change classroom
• ->bilingual/cultural diversity