Cultural Theory and

Practice
Dr Liza Das
Associate Professor
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

HS 214 2009

 For man the unexamined life is not worth living

--Socrates

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,

The proper study of mankind is man.

--

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2009-10

AlexanderPope

Have you ever asked yourselves: Why do we live

the kind of life that we live?
In Cultural Studies this question is framed as
How are we produced as subjects?
What is culture?
Why should we investigate culture?
Can it be studied systematically?
If yes, what are the tools with which we may
approach such a vast subject?

Herewestudythelifethatwelive--andthereasons
thereof--throughavarietyoflenses,andallthe
variouslensesmaynotagreewitheachother.

Suchisthedifficultyofstudyingthelivesthatwelive,
ourbeliefs,ourchoicesandourlovesandour
despairs.

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2009-10

Course Objectives
It provides a theoretical introduction to the field of
Cultural Studies which has emerged as the most
comprehensive and interdisciplinary field in the
humanities and social sciences today.
It incorporates both the views of culture as a way of
life and as a contested site for human discourse and
action.
Knowledge of key concepts and approaches will equip
students to understand and articulate themselves as
cultural beings and not simply technologists

Theory and Practice

Cultural Studies is a body of theory
generated by thinkers who regard the
production of knowledge as a political
practice.
Knowledge is never a neutral or objective
phenomenon but a matter of
positionality, of the place from which one
speaks, to whom, and for what purposes.
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2009-10

Praxis
Philosophers have only interpreted
the world in various ways; the point
is to change it. (Marx)
Praxis is a synthesis of theory and
practice in which each informs the
other

Knowledge
The Problem of Knowledge: Cultural studies and the
problematisation of knowledge. Knowledge is always
already provisional, always already contaminated.
Knowledge game amounting to edifying conversation.
Knowledge is power and constituted by power.
Approximate knowledge is all we have. Approximate
knowledge is enough. One does not have to know
something absolutely in order to know something well
enough to live well, to make choices, to act, to understand.

Approximate knowledge can be effectively evaluated.

Knowing how well we knew something was more valuable
that simply knowing it.

Epistemology

Epistemology,fromtheGreekwordsepisteme(knowledge)andlogos
(word/speech).

Thebranchofphilosophythatdealswiththe nature, origin and scope of

Knowledge.Muchofthisdebatehasfocusedonanalysingthenatureand
varietyofknowledgeandhowitrelatestosimilarnotionssuchastruthand
belief.Muchofthisdiscussionconcernsthejustification of knowledge
claims.

Thewaythatknowledgeclaimsarejustifiedbothleadstoanddependson
thegeneralapproachtophilosophyoneadopts.Thus,philosophershave
developedarangeofepistemologicaltheoriestoaccompanytheirgeneral
philosophicalpositions.

 One implication of this definition is that one cannot be

said to "know" something just because one believes it
and that belief subsequently turns out to be true.
An ill person with no medical training but a generally
optimistic attitude might believe that she will recover
from her illness quickly, but even if this belief turned
out to be true, the patient did not know that she
would get well, because her belief lacked justification.
Knowledge, therefore, is distinguished from true belief
by its justification, and much of epistemology is
concerned with how true beliefs might be properly
justified.

a priori versus a posteriori knowledge

a priori knowledge is knowledge gained or

justified by Reason alone, without the direct
or indirect influence of any particular
experience.
a posteriori knowledge is knowledge the
attainment or justification of which requires
reference to Experience. This is also called
empirical knowledge.

Epistemologists (further study)

Rene Descartes
Immanuel Kant
David Hume
John Locke
George Berkeley
Matrix)

Bertrand Russell

(alleged inspiration behind The

Political Nature

Ithastheobjectiveofunderstanding
cultureinallitscomplexformsandof
analysingthesocialandpoliticalcontextsin
whichculturemanifestsitself.
CulturalStudieshasacommitmenttoan
ethicalevaluationofmodernsocietyandtoa
radicallineofpoliticalaction.
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2009-10

The CULT STUDS

Old Cultural Studies

Cultureisthebestthathasbeenthoughtand
knownintheworld.
MatthewArnold(19thC)

Thatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,
belief,art,law,morals,custom,andanyother
capabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasa
memberofsociety.
E.Tylor,Primitive Culture, 1871
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2009-10

Anthropological focus
Culture is the basis of communal life.
It is a way of life transmitted from
generation to generation.
Civilisation: The ability of a culture to
express itself well, especially in
writing, and to organise itself
thoroughly as a social, economic and
political entity.

New Cultural Studies

Culture is the webs of significance* spun
by man that he is suspended in.
Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures,
1973

* Webs / networks of meaning and value

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2009-10

Professor Stuart Hall

By culture I mean the actual grounded
terrain of practices, representations,
languages and customs of any specific
society.
I also mean the contradictory forms of
common sense which have taken root in
and helped to shape popular life
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2009-10

In how many different ways can you study yourself as a cultural

being?
Interdisciplinary scope:

Philosophy:Howdoweunderstandreality?Kant:Noumenon
andphenomenon.Howdoweattributemeaningtoour
existencethroughourvalueandbeliefsystems?
Language:Howdoeslanguageconstructourperceptionof
reality?Considersymbols,naming,concepts,thehenorm.
Economics:Howdoeswealthanditsdistributiondetermine
ourlives?Stdofliving,QoL,Healthandlongevity

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2009-10

Sociology:Whydowehavethesocialsystemsandarrangementsthatwe
do?Casteism,class-bias,racism,marriage,living-in.
Psychology:Whydowethinkincertainways?Whatdoesitmeantobea
cognitiveagent?Evolution,Brainsystems,cognition,self/other,selfesteem.
ScienceandTechnology:Howdoestechnologyaffectourwayoflife?
Churchill:Wedesignourbuildingsandthenourbuildingsdesignus.
Literature,media:Whyarethemediaandliteraturesopowerfulascultural
products?Howareweconstructedbythemedia?
History:Howhascultureevolvedandchangedthoroughdifferenttimes?
Howshouldwestudyhistory?
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1.Science:HumanEvolutionandthe
beginningsofculture
2.Psychology:EvolutionaryPsychology,
TheoryofMemetics
3.PoliticalEconomy:Marxism
4.ModernismandPostmodernism

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2009-10

Key concepts and guiding statements of the course:

1.Cultureisnotagiven.Itisconstructedandhencecan
bestudiedsystematically.
2.Cultureisnotabsoluteorstaticbutchangingand
dynamic.
3.Therearereasonsandforces(eg.politicaleconomy)
behindculturalchanges.
4.Poweristhechiefarbiterofthekindofliveswelead.
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2009-10

Theory: considerations
Howdowetheoriseculture?

Theoryisanintellectualactivityinwhichpeopleinterpret,critiqueand
drawgeneralisationsabouthowandwhythesocialworldspinsthe
economic,cultural,politicalandinstitutionalwebs.
Theoryhastheabilitytomakesenseofalllevelsofoureverydaylives.
Culturalpracticesarealwaysunderlinedbytheoreticalassumptionsand
perspectives.Thetheoryconstructedisnotmerelyasystembutan
instrumentforchange.
Practice:Nottheoryvspractice;theoryaspractice.
Epistemology:Theoryofknowledge,itsorigins,sources,assumptions
andlimits.
Howdowehaveknowledgeandwhatareitsmeans?Problematisation
ofknowledge
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2009-10

THEORY
Ageneralideathatexplainsalargesetoffactualpatterns.
Acomprehensiveexplanationofagivensetofdatathathasbeen
repeatedlyconfirmedbyobservationandexperimentationand
hasgainedgeneralacceptancewithintheacademiccommunity.
Astatementorsetofstatementsusedtoexplainaphenomenon.A
theoryisgenerallyacceptedasvalidduetohavingsurvivedrepeated
testing.
Ascientifictheoryisanestablishedandexperimentallyverifiedfactor
collectionoffactsabouttheworld.Unliketheeverydayuseoftheword
theory,itisnotanunprovedidea,orjustsometheoreticalspeculation.
Thelattermeaningofa'theory'inscienceiscalledahypothesis.
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2009-10