DOCSLIB.ORG

Mapping the Self with Units of Culture

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mapping the Self with Units of Culture Psychology, 2010, 1: 185-193 185 doi:10.4236/psych.2010.13025 Published Online August 2010 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/psych) Mapping the Self with Units of Culture Lloyd H. Robertson Northlands College, La Ronge, Canada. Email: [email protected] Received May 10th, 2010; revised June 9th, 2010; accepted June 11th, 2010. ABSTRACT This study explored a method of representing the self graphically using elemental units of culture called memes. A di- verse sample of eleven volunteers participated in the co-construction of individual “self-maps” during a series of inter- views over a nine month period. Two of the resultant maps are presented as exemplars. Commonalities found in all eleven maps lend support to the notion that there are certain structures to the self that are cross-cultural. The use of memes in mapping those structures was considered useful but insufficient because emotive elements to the self emerged from the research that could not be represented in memetic form. Suggestions are made for future research. Keywords: Culture, Identity, Memes, Self, Self-Structure 1. Introduction research into the self [17-19]. Since the Jamesian self includes that which may be seen to be me, and that which Psychologists have discussed many aspects of the self Harre had difficulty seeing, it remains an encompassing including self-concept [1,2], self-esteem [3,4], self-actu- definition. alization [5,6], self-efficacy [7,8], and self-validation [9]. If the self is defined as a cognitive structure [20-22], Eric Erikson said, “The ability to form intimate relation- then it is necessarily a cultural construct [23-25] which ships depends largely on having a clear sense of self” could be understood as consisting of units of culture [10]. William Bridges [11,12] tied his theory of adult [26-28]. Culture, in this sense, consists of all the ways of transition to changes in this “self”. Alfred Adler placed knowing, interpreting and doing that proliferate within a the self at the core of “world view” [1], and Adlerians given society. Dawkins’ [29] coined the term “meme” continue to emphasize social interest, intimacy and pro- representing elemental cultural units that exhibit attrac- duction in planning for self-change [13,14] Despite its tive and repellent properties with respect to other such central importance to psychology, little has been done to units. Similar terms for such units have been proposed empirically detail and map the core concept of self. Rom from a variety of disciplines including “mnemotype”, Harre [15] despaired at the difficulties inherent in such a “idene”, “sociogene”, “concept” and “culturgen” [30], study: but the term “meme” has increasingly come to predomi- “The self that manages and monitors its own actions nate and is used in this paper. and thoughts is never disclosed as such to the person Blackmore [26] suggested that the self is an interlock- whose Self (sic) it is. It is protected from even the possi- ing complex of memes, but she did not attempt to illus- bility of being studied empirically by its very nature. trate how this self may be structured. There has been Whenever it tries to catch a glimpse of itself it must be- agreement, however, that memes include cognitive and come invisible to itself, since it is that very self which behavioral dimensions [31-33]. It would be reasonable to would have to catch that very glimpse. It is known only infer that affective and connotative meanings associated through reason. It is never presented in experience.” with each meme as held within the mind of the individual William James [16] postulated the existence of an ob- would be the source of Dawkins’ [29] attractive and re- jective “me” that included physical, active, social and pellent “properties,” which could then result in self- psychological components coupled with a subjective “I” structures that may be displayed graphically. that included qualities of volition, constancy and dis- Thus, in this exploratory study the term “meme” re- tinctness. The Jamesian “I” and “me” were seen to be ferred to an elemental unit of culture that exhibits refer- different sides of a unitary self that could at once observe ent, connotative, affective and behavioral properties. and be observed, and it has become the basis of much “Referent” refers to the dictionary-like idea, concept or Copyright © 2010 SciRes. PSYCH 186 Mapping the Self with Units of Culture definition behind a culturally relevant label or term as choice but to grow up…. The first one fell in my lap, so I understood by the individual. Such units of culture also didn’t plan the first one, he just kinda dropped in my lap; had to evidence connotation and affect with the effect of I guess you could say.” This segment was coded with the prompting certain behaviors to count as memes. Rela- word “mother”. The resultant grouping of all segments tionships between memes were displayed graphically, coded for “mother” exhibited the following characteris- and the resultant self-referential structures were then tics: examined to confirm and extent our current understand- REFERENT: A biological fact associated with bearing ings of self. children CONNOTATION: There is a maternal responsibility 2. Method to those children to shape their behavior, and to ensure Participants were recruited using print advertising and their safety and success posters supplemented by presentations made to classes AFFECT: Love, caring, valuing of children and community groups in a process of purposeful ran- BEHAVIOR: Ensures that her children are safe, cared dom sampling. Participants were volunteers who agreed for, read to, go to school, and are given toys to talk about themselves in depth. The age range of the This woman’s belief that she was responsible for her eleven participants selected for this study was 24 to 59 children’s safety led to anxiety that they might not be with a median of 37.3. Eight of the participants in the safe. Her behaviours included sleeping with her baby, sample were resident in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and waking up in regular intervals to check the baby’s three were resident in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. breathing, and forbidding her older children from playing Four participants were university students, six were em- in a grove of trees next to their yard. A meme labelled ployed, and one was unemployed. The sample was “anxious” (for anxious person) was thus linked to equally divided by gender: five females, five males and mother. one transsexual. With respect to nationality, eight were By identifying and linking memes, maps for each par- Canadian, one was Chinese, one was Russian, and one ticipant were constructed. Themes involving clusters of had joint Canadian – US American citizenship. The ra- memes were noted on each map. Self-maps were then cial composition included seven Caucasians, two people returned to individual participants for elaboration, cor- of North American aboriginal ancestry, one Chinese, and rection and confirmation. In each case a more elaborate one person whose mother was aboriginal and father was second map was prepared based upon what each partici- “white” who identified herself as simply “Canadian”. pant said in their second interview. These maps were The eleven participants were taken to represent sufficient then returned to the participants in a third interview. diversity to test the generable applicability of this method Only two participants suggested additions to their maps of mapping the self. at the third interview. Self-maps were tested for reso- Participants were given an open-ended question invit- nance during the second and third interviews with reso- ing them to explain who they were in detail. Prompts nance defined as a felt experience of self-identification were allowed inviting elaboration. Following the qualita- with the maps as presented. Each participant had the final tive method advocated by Miles and Huberman [34], say on the composition of their self-map. self-descriptive data obtained during these initial 1.5 to 3. Individual Results: The Maps of Two two hour interviews were transcribed, and segmented portions were given code words by the researcher repre- Selves senting specific units of thought. All of the segments Due to space limitations it was not possible to present all with the same code were then grouped, and each resul- participant self-maps. Two were selected for presentation tant grouping or “bin” was examined for referent, con- on the basis of diversity with one representing a male notative, affective and behavioral dimensions. Bins that from an individualist culture and the other representing a exhibited all four dimensions satisfied the definition of female from a collectivist culture. The subsequent sec- the term “meme” as used in this study, and the qualities tion includes a summary comparison of all eleven self- of each meme were examined for possible positive link- maps. ages or “attractions” with other memes. Memes that con- 3.1 The Self of an Urban Caucasian Canadian tained reference to another meme in their definition or shared one of the four dimensions were deemed to be Male linked. Code words representing each meme were then “Brent” explained who he was in a series of remembered displayed graphically and lines were drawn represented narratives; moreover, he defined himself as one who re- linkages. members. More segments (13) were coded for “remem- As an example of this segmenting process, a young berer” than any of the other 30 memes applied 119 times aboriginal (Metis) mother of three explained how be- to 74 segments of text transcribed from the initial inter- coming pregnant changed her: “Having kids, you have no view. By linking related units of culture, and by adding Copyright © 2010 SciRes. PSYCH Mapping the Self with Units of Culture 187 thematic interpretive understandings, the complex struc- he had not developed the level of self-esteem he needed ture of interlocking memes illustrated in Figure 1emer- to pursue his career until he was well into adulthood, and ged with “rememberer” pictured as a diamond so as to he attributed his new emphasis on self-esteem to the sus- highlight its importance as a theme in his life.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Contributions from Evolutionary Anthropology
    Innovation in Cultural Systems Contributions from Evolutionary Anthropology edited by Michael J. O’Brien and Stephen J. Shennan The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2010 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales promotional use. For information, please email [email protected] or write to Special Sales Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142. This book was set in Times Roman by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Innovation in cultural systems : contributions from evolutionary anthropology / edited by Michael J. O’Brien and Stephen J. Shennan. p. cm.—(Vienna series in theoretical biology) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01333-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Physical anthropology. 2. Human evolution. 3. Social evolution. 4. Human beings–Origin. 5. Technological innovations. I. O’Brien, Michael J. II. Shennan, Stephen J. GN60.I56 2010 599.9–dc22 2009009084 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 Issues in Anthropological Studies of Innovation Michael J. O’Brien and Stephen J. Shennan It would be diffi cult to fi nd a topic in anthropology that has played as central a role as innovation in attempts to explain why and how human behavior changes.
    [Show full text]
  • What's in a Meme?
    What’s in a Meme? The Development of the Meme as a Unit of Culture Garry Chick The Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania, USA Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association as part of the session, “Perceiving Culture: Unit Definition in Cultural Anthropology,” November 21, 1999. Please do not quote without permission. An earlier version of this paper is in press in Social Science Today (in Russian). Abstract Over the past 150 years numerous labels have been applied to the “parts” of culture. Some of these, including “themes,” “configurations,” “complexes,” and “patterns” are macro level. Micro level terms include “ideas,” “beliefs,” “values,” “rules,” “principles,” “symbols,” “concepts,” and a few others. The macro level labels often appear to be particular arrangements of micro level units. But which of these, if any, is the (or, an) operational unit of cultural transmission, diffusion, and evolution? Recently proposed units of cultural transmission typically derive from analogies made between cultural and biological evolution. Even though the unit of selection in biological evolution (i.e., the gene, the individual, or the group) is still under debate, the “meme,” originally suggested by Dawkins (1976) as a cultural analog of the gene, has been “selected” by many as a viable unit of culture. A “science of memes” (“memetics”) has been proposed (Lynch 1996) and numerous web sites devoted to the meme exist on the internet. This paper will trace the development of the meme and, in the process, critically address its utility as a unit of culture. 2 The whole history of science shows that advance depends upon going beyond “common sense” to abstractions that reveal unobvious relations and common properties of isolatable aspects of phenomena.
    [Show full text]
  • Lumsden-Wilson Theory of Gene Culture Coevolution (Human Sociobiology/Ethnography/Epigenetic Rules/Social Development) JOSEPH S
    Proc. NatL Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 78, No. 6, pp. 3976-3979, June 1981 Population Biology Lumsden-Wilson theory of gene culture coevolution (human sociobiology/ethnography/epigenetic rules/social development) JOSEPH S. ALPER* AND ROBERT V. LANGEt *Department ofChemistry, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts 02125; and tDepartment of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02154 Communicated by S. E. Luria, March 9, 1981 ABSTRACT A critique is presented of the Lumsden-Wilson ASSUMPTIONS OF THE THEORY theory [Lumsden, C. J. & Wilson, E. 0. (1980) Proc. Nati. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 4382-4386] of the transmission of cultural traits. An LW propose that we consider one cultural trait (called a "cul- analysis of the underlying assumptions and the mathematical na- turgen") at a time and study the mechanisms by which distri- ture of the theory clarifies its essentially reductionist and deter- butions of alternative forms of the trait in a society are estab- minist qualities. The mathematical functions governing the tran- lished. The central assumption of the LW theory is that there sition probability that an individual member of a group of a are genes that code for the rules that determine the probability specified size will switch from one trait to an alternative form of of changing from one alternative form of the trait to another. that trait is assumed to be genetically controlled although the sin- There is absolutely no evidence that any genes ofthis type exist gle independent variable of this function, the number of individ- and, as we shall argue more fully below, LW's claim that there uals characterized by each of the two forms of the trait, is envi- is evidence for the existence of such genes is invalid.
    [Show full text]
  • The Histories and Origins of Memetics
    Betwixt the Popular and Academic: The Histories and Origins of Memetics Brent K. Jesiek Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Science and Technology Studies Gary L. Downey (Chair) Megan Boler Barbara Reeves May 20, 2003 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: discipline formation, history, meme, memetics, origin stories, popularization Copyright 2003, Brent K. Jesiek Betwixt the Popular and Academic: The Histories and Origins of Memetics Brent K. Jesiek Abstract In this thesis I develop a contemporary history of memetics, or the field dedicated to the study of memes. Those working in the realm of meme theory have been generally concerned with developing either evolutionary or epidemiological approaches to the study of human culture, with memes viewed as discrete units of cultural transmission. At the center of my account is the argument that memetics has been characterized by an atypical pattern of growth, with the meme concept only moving toward greater academic legitimacy after significant development and diffusion in the popular realm. As revealed by my analysis, the history of memetics upends conventional understandings of discipline formation and the popularization of scientific ideas, making it a novel and informative case study in the realm of science and technology studies. Furthermore, this project underscores how the development of fields and disciplines is thoroughly intertwined with a larger social, cultural, and historical milieu. Acknowledgments I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, friends, and colleagues for their invaluable encouragement and assistance as I worked on this project.
    [Show full text]
  • Genetic and Cultural Evolution: the Gap, the Bridge,... and Beyond
    Continuing Commentary Phillips, h. D. & Edwards, W. (1966) Conservatism in a simple probability Slovie, P. Fischhoff, R. & Lichtenstein, S. (1976) Cognitive processes and inference task. Journal of Experimental Psychology 72:346-54. societal risk taking. In: Cognition and social behavior, ed. J. S. Carroll & Saks, M. J. & Kidd, R. F. (1980-81) Human information-processing and J. W. Payne. Erlbaum. adjudication: Trial by heuristics. Law and Society Review 15: 123-60. Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1971) Belief in the law of small numbers. Schum, D. & Martin, A. W. (1980) Probabilistic opinion revision on the basis Psychological Bulletin 76:105-10. of evidence at trial: A Baconian or a Pascalian process? Rice University (1974) Judgement under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science Department of Psychology Research Report 80-02. 185:1124-31. Commentary on Charles J. Lumsden and Edward O. Wilson (1982) Precis of Genes, Mind, and Culture. BBS 5:1-37. Abstract of the original article: Despite its importance, the linkage between genetic and cultural evolution has until now been little explored. An understanding of this linkage is needed to extend evolutionary theory so that it can deal for the first time with the phenomena of mind and human social history. We characterize the process of gene-culture coevolution, in which culture is shaped by biological imperatives while biological traits are simultaneously altered by genetic evolution in response to cultural history. A case is made from both theory and evidence that genetic and cultural evolution are inseverable, and that the human mind has tended to evolve so as to bias individuals toward certain patterns of cognition and choice rather than others.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Introduction: the Evolution of Culture in a Microcosm
    1 Introduction: The Evolution of Culture in a Microcosm Stephen C. Levinson Evolutionary speculation constitutes a kind of metascience, which has the same intellectual fascination for some biologists that metaphysical speculation possessed for some medieval scholastics. It can be considered a relatively harmless habit, like eating peanuts, unless it assumes the form of an obsession; then it becomes a vice. —R. V. Stanier, Some aspects of the biology of cells in H. Charles and B. Knight (eds.), Organization and Control in Prokaryotic Cells As the quotation here suggests, this volume is full of the vice of speculation. Yet any student of the human condition can hardly avoid it. Somehow culture—or at least the culture-bearing ape—evolved. An evolutionary perspective on human culture, which is much less fashionable now than it was 70 or more years ago, seems inevitable, yet the social sciences actively resist it, allowing ill-informed conjectures from other sci- ences (which does little to increase the interest from the social sciences of course). In this introductory chapter, I try to do two things: The first is to deal frontally, and speculatively, with what I take to be the “big questions” about the evolution of human culture. This may serve as a partial introduction to the more detailed explo- rations in other chapters in this volume. The second is to give the reader some grist for these speculative mills. I will argue that if we look at the details of any culture, it is quite clear that we need an evolutionary perspective to understand how such fea- tures could have arisen (note that such a perspective is quite consistent with other kinds of social science explanations).
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Selection
    Cultural selection Agner Fog Kluwer Academic Publishers 1999 Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 9 2. THE HISTORY OF CULTURAL SELECTION THEORY 13 2.1 Evolutionism 13 2.2 Social darwinism 22 2.3 Functionalism 24 2.4 Neo-evolutionism 25 2.5 Diffusionism 30 2.6 Sociobiology 33 2.7 Interaction between genetic and cultural selection 36 2.8 Memetics 41 2.9 Sociology and anthropology 45 2.10 Synthesis of sociobiology and anthropology 47 2.11 Social psychology 49 2.12 Economic competition 50 2.13 Universal selection theory 52 2.14 Conclusion 55 3. FUNDAMENTAL MODEL FOR CULTURAL SELECTION 59 3.1 The genetic basis of culture 59 3.2 Cultural selection 60 3.3 Unit of selection 62 3.4 Innovation 65 3.5 Reproduction 67 3.6 Selection 69 3.7 Selection of meme complexes 73 6 3.8 Vicarious selection 74 3.9 Barriers in evolution 75 3.10 Differences between genetic and cultural selection 77 3.11 Cultural selection in animals 79 3.12 The applicability of cultural selection theory 80 4. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODEL 83 4.1 The concept of fitness 83 4.2 Genetic selection models 85 4.3 Genetic r- and K-selection 87 4.4 Cultural selection models 90 4.5 Cultural r- and k-selection 91 4.6 Mechanisms in cultural r/k-selection 94 4.7 Vicarious psychological mechanisms 96 4.8 The paradox of revolution 99 4.9 Typical characteristics of regal and kalyptic cultures 101 4.10 Limitations to the theory 103 4.11 Previously published related theories 104 4.12 Conservativism versus innovativism 108 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Anthropology Faculty Publications Anthropology, Department of August 1987 Precis of Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature Philip Kitcher University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California Patrick Bateson (Comment by) University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England Jon Beckwith (Comment by) Department of Microbiolgoy and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. Irwin S. Bernstein (Comment by) Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA Patricia Smith Churchland (Comment by) Philosophy Department and Cognitive Science Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, FCaliforniaollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub See P nextart of page the forAnthr additionalopology authorsCommons Kitcher, Philip; Bateson, Patrick (Comment by); Beckwith, Jon (Comment by); Bernstein, Irwin S. (Comment by); Smith Churchland, Patricia (Comment by); Draper, Patricia (Comment by); Dupre, John (Comment by); Futterman, Andrew (Comment by); Ghiselin, Michael T. (Comment by); Harpending, Henry (Comment by); Johnston, Timothy D. (Comment by); Allen, Garland E. (Comment by); Lamb, Michael E. (Comment by); McGrew, W. C. (Comment by); Plotkin, H. C. (Comment by); Rosenberg, Alexander (Comment by); Saunders, Peter T. (Comment by); Ho, Mae-Wan (Comment by); Singer, Peter (Comment by); Smith, Eric Aiden (Comment by); Smith, Peter K. (Comment by); Sober, Elliot (Comment by); Stenseth, Nils C. (Comment by); and Symons, Donald (Comment by), "Precis of Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature" (1987). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 16. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub/16 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnographic Patterns (Human Sociobiology/Social Development/Gene-Culture Coevolution) CHARLES J
    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 77, No. 7, pp. 4382-4386, July 1980 Population Biology Translation of epigenetic rules of individual behavior into ethnographic patterns (human sociobiology/social development/gene-culture coevolution) CHARLES J. LUMSDEN AND EDWARD 0. WILSON Museum of Comparative Zoology Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 Contributed by Edward 0. Wilson, April 28, 1980 ABSTRACI The pivotal process in gene-culture coevolution Pure is envisaged to be the evolution of behavioral epigenesis. From genetic premises based on the known properties of enculturation and usage diffusion within societies, a probabilistic model is con- to._ structed to estimate the degree to which rules governing indi- E Gene-culture vidual development canalize ethnographic curves (the proba- bility density distributions of societies engaged in varying ._I'0 patterns of usage). The results indicate that under most con- Cd ceivable conditions the translation from individual epigenesis 4a to social pattern is amplified, to an extent that differences in la bias too faint to be detected in ordinary developmental studies .0 can generate conspicuous variation in the ethnographic curves. .- Examples are cited of sufficiently biased epigenesis in human 0 behavior. co 0 Pure cultural During socialization in a cultural species, individuals transmit an array of behaviors and artifacts, which for convenience will -1v be termed "culturgens" [L. cultur(a), culture + L. gen(o), produce]. This unit can be consistently delineated by applying the set-theoretic definition of artifact employed in quantitative 0 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 1314 1516 17 18 archeological studies (1): A relatively homogeneous set of ar- Culturgens tifacts or behaviors that either share without exception one or FIG.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 4 Cultural Innovation from an Americanist Perspective
    Chapter 4 Cultural Innovation from an Americanist Perspective Michael J. O’Brien Introduction No matter how wide a search one might conduct, it would be difficult to find another topic in anthropology that has played as an important a role as innovation in framing arguments about why and how human behavior changes (O’Brien 2007; O’Brien and Shennan 2010). Clearly, innovation was implicit in the nineteenth century writings of ethnologists, such as Tylor (1871) and Morgan (1877), both of whom viewed the production of novelties – new ideas, new ways of doing things, and the like – as the underlying evolutionary force that keeps cultures moving up the ladder of cultural complexity. From their point of view, the vast majority of cultures that have ever existed pooped out somewhere on the way up – presumably because they either ran out of good ideas and products or were too set in their ways to borrow them from other cultures. A few were innovative enough to escape the lower rungs and develop into civilizations through the acquisition of traits, such as writing, calendars, and monumental architecture. Innovation was an equally important component of the work of later cultural evolutionists, such as Steward (1955) and White (1959). For them, the evolutionary process was perhaps less directional and goal-oriented than it was for the earlier evolutionists, with the source of innovation wrapped up in the kind of mechanisms a group needs to meet the challenges of its physical and social environment. For Steward especially, innovations were viewed as adaptations – traits invented or borrowed to better acclimate groups to their physical and cultural environments.
    [Show full text]
  • ILCEA, 38 | 2020, « Chant Et Nation : De La Culture Populaire À La Culture Savante » [En Ligne], Mis En Ligne Le 31 Janvier 2020, Consulté Le 10 Décembre 2020
    ILCEA Revue de l’Institut des langues et cultures d'Europe, Amérique, Afrique, Asie et Australie 38 | 2020 Chant et nation : de la culture populaire à la culture savante Anne Cayuela et Caroline Bertonèche (dir.) Édition électronique URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ilcea/7868 DOI : 10.4000/ilcea.7868 ISSN : 2101-0609 Éditeur UGA Éditions/Université Grenoble Alpes Édition imprimée ISBN : 978-2-37747-172-0 ISSN : 1639-6073 Référence électronique Anne Cayuela et Caroline Bertonèche (dir.), ILCEA, 38 | 2020, « Chant et nation : de la culture populaire à la culture savante » [En ligne], mis en ligne le 31 janvier 2020, consulté le 10 décembre 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ilcea/7868 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/ilcea.7868 Ce document a été généré automatiquement le 10 décembre 2020. © ILCEA 1 Par une approche pluridisciplinaire, alliant analyse littéraire, historique et musicologique, ce nouveau numéro d’ILCEA interroge les formes de l’usage nationaliste du chant et les traditions poétiques et populaires, en fonction des différents territoires géographiques et culturels. Les productions culturelles sont en effet un puissant vecteur de transmission de la nation et contribuent à l’élaboration de ses traits définitoires. Le numéro regroupe des contributions de trois spécialistes de trois aires géographiques différentes pour chacune des trois parties qui le constituent, successivement intitulées « Chant et nation », « Culture savante / culture populaire », et enfin « Poésie et musique ». ILCEA, 38 | 2020 2 SOMMAIRE Introduction Anne Cayuela et Caroline Bertonèche Chant et nation Lied et Kulturnation. Chant et prise de conscience nationale en Allemagne au XIXe siècle Christian Eggers De la plume à l’oreille : composition, interprétation et diffusion du poème « Venid vencedores… » de Juan Bautista Arriaza Vinciane Trancart Rock russe et nation.
    [Show full text]
  • An Evolutionary Social Science? a Skeptic's Brief, Theoretical And
    10.1177/0048393104269196PHILOSOPHYBryantARTICLE / AN EVOLUTIONARY OF THE SOCIAL SOCIAL SCIENCES SCIENCE? / December 2004 An Evolutionary Social Science? A Skeptic’s Brief, Theoretical and Substantive JOSEPH M. BRYANT University of Toronto So-called grand or paradigmatic theories—structural functionalism, psycho- analysis, Marxism, rational-choice theory—provide their proponents with a conceptual vocabulary and syntax that allows for the classification and config- uring of wide ranges of phenomena. Advocates for any particular “analytical grammar” are accordingly prone to conflating the internal coherence of their paradigm—its integrated complex of definitions, axioms, and inferences—with a corresponding capacity for representational verisimilitude. The distinction between Theory-as-heuristic and Theory-as-imposition is of course difficult to negotiate in practice, given that empirical observation and measurement are not entirely “theory neutral” or independent of prior analytical conceptualization. Nonetheless, the scientific cogency of any theory is ultimately evaluated by the substantive realism of its foundational assumptions and categorical designa- tions; that is, the accuracy with which it identifies and tracks the determinant properties and processes of the phenomena to be explicated. The paradigm of sociocultural evolutionism—despite extensive revamping by contemporary proponents—does not carry warrant in this regard, as its recourse to an analyti- cal grammar fashioned and derived from another discipline raises doubts about its
    [Show full text]