MATERIAL & IMMATERIAL CULTURE

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH

CULTURE has a centrale place in the interpretation of social phenomena

Considered a central element of society

Culture is made up by ordered system of symbols

the symbols embody pattern of meanings that are transmitted, thanks to this symbolic forms men communicate, develop and transmit their knowledge.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

MATERIAL CULTURE

privileges visibile aspects, such as artifact and tools

From material objects → immaterial meanings that represent something that goes beyond practical utility

study of a culture starting form tangible materials elements

Cultural heritage vs. heritage community

Cultural h. → resources from the past that people identify as an expression of their values, beliefs, knowledge and traditions

H. community → people who value some particular aspect of cultural heritage which they wish to transmit to future generations

Giù i monumenti: when our gaze changes orientation due to new facts or events, peole feel the urge to destroy and remove some symbols → statues, as their presence is considered too painful

TSAR ALEXANDER II

SADDAM HUSSEIN IN IRAQ

Musée des Monuments Francais (1793) to preserve public heritage from destruction → in the museum the same statue that would be knocked down acquires a different value.

LENIN in MAIDAN SQUARE

These symbols serve to distinguish what we are/were (history) and what we are becoming (present)

ROBERT EDWAR LEE

Stumbling blocks in Germany to remember the citizen deported to Nazi extermination camps

4 ELEMENTS

VALUES → it's not the object, but it's a principle, on it we approve or not a certain way of acting or thinking (related to a normative dimension)

NORMS → more specific than values, necessary in order to apply a value (Ex: Honesty)

vary geographically and historically, their are a signals of a problem in the society that the norm tries to solve

Are imperative and must be reinforced by external control of behaviour

BELIEFS → very wide category, are expressed by individuals and groups, beliefs are based on facts or on acts of faith.

Factual beliefs: things that are known, people are aware of a fact

Representational beliefs: are what we call beliefs, opinions and people are conscious of accepting a certain representation

SYMBOLS → defined as a sign both conventional (mathematicians) and analog, evokes a relationship between object and idea (scepter)

Language a system of signs to express ideas (like writing, sign language, rites)

Symbols have a character common to a social group, they represent a knowledge that people can express (but without developing reasoning)