Cultural Studies Overview

100 question-and-answer practice flashcards covering Day One of Cultural Studies, including definitions of culture, Frankfurt School, New Left, and key theoretical concepts by Michel Foucault.

Who presented the 'Cultural Studies Overview' lecture?

Kalyani Vallath

How does Margaret Mead define culture?

Culture is the learned behaviour of a society.

How does Raymond Williams define culture?

Culture includes the organisation of production, the structure of the family, the structure of institutions which express or govern social relationships, and the characteristic forms through which members of the society communicate.

How does Clifford Geertz define culture?

Culture is the ensemble of stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.

According to the timeline on religious evolution, when did Pre-Animism exist?

Around 300,000 years ago

According to the timeline on religious evolution, when did Animism emerge?

Around 100,000 years ago

According to the timeline on religious evolution, when did Totemism emerge?

Around 50,000 years ago

According to the timeline on religious evolution, when did Shamanism emerge?

Around 30,000 years ago

According to the timeline on religious evolution, when did Paganism emerge?

Around 12,000 years ago

According to the timeline on religious evolution, when did Progressed Organized Religion emerge?

Around 5,000 years ago

What timeline graphic illustrates the evolution of religion from Pre-Animism to Progressed Organized Religion?

'Understanding Religion Evolution: Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, Paganism & Progressed organized religion' by Damien Marie AtHope

How does Cultural Studies view working class and popular culture?

It values working class culture and popular culture.

How does Cultural Studies understand 'universal' or 'natural' culture?

It understands that what is considered 'universal' or 'natural' culture is rooted in power relations and is homogenised and naturalised by marginalising other elements of culture.

What is Cultural Studies?

An interdisciplinary study that examines how culture relates to the larger society, the political dynamics of mass media and everyday cultural practices, and how culture transforms individual experiences, social realities, and power relations.

What key aspects of mass media and daily life are studied in Cultural Studies?

The political dynamics of mass media and everyday cultural practices.

Which fields does Cultural Studies draw upon?

Social theory, philosophy, history, linguistics, and media.

How does Cultural Studies examine cultural practices?

In terms of their relation to power.

In what context does Cultural Studies deal with culture?

In all its complexity within its socio-political context.

What dual aspects of theory and practice are involved in Cultural Studies?

Theory of culture as an object of study, and practice of culture as the location of political criticism and action.

What two forms of knowledge form the basis of Cultural Studies?

Knowledge as subjective experience and knowledge as objective and universal.

What structures does Cultural Studies attempt to evaluate and change?

Structures of dominance, especially in industrial, capitalist societies.

According to the basic assumptions of Cultural Studies, how is culture constituted?

Culture is constituted by signs organised as codes.

What two processes do cultural signs involve according to Cultural Studies?

Representation and Othering.

What does it mean for culture to be 'discursive' in Cultural Studies?

It involves a structure of knowledge and power.

What is the central focus regarding cultural forms and practices in Cultural Studies?

The focus is on studying diverse cultural forms and practices, how different groups/classes compete for cultural domination, and how culture is practised and made.

Which political figure is shown in the presentation slide titled 'POWER'?

Donald Trump

Who is featured in the presentation slide titled 'IDENTITY'?

Malala Yousafzai

What model is shown in the presentation slide titled 'IDEOLOGY'?

A model of the Ram Mandir

What scene is depicted on the slide titled 'MODERNITY'?

Christian missionaries with children in Africa

What graphic is used to illustrate 'POSTMODERNITY & GLOBALIZATION'?

A world map composed of corporate brand logos

What location is pictured on the slide titled 'EVERYDAY LIFE'?

A metro station platform in India

What character illustration is shown on the slide titled 'RESISTANCE & COUNTERCULTURE'?

A Hipster character diagram detailing beard styles, hairstyles, clothes, glasses, shoes, and accessories

Which film poster is displayed on the slide titled 'NATION'?

Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl

Who plays the titular role in the movie poster for Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl?

Janhvi Kapoor

What slogan is written on the protest sign held by Sufia in the slide titled 'MULTICULTURALISM'?

'I AM SUFIA A MUSLIM AND AN INDIAN TILL I DIE !!'

Whose image is shown on the slide titled 'FUNDAMENTALISM'?

Adolf Hitler giving the Nazi salute

In which country did Cultural Studies initially develop?

Britain

Cultural Studies developed in Britain as a reaction against which two intellectual movements?

Liberal humanism and orthodox Marxism

Cultural Studies developed through engagement with which political movement in the 1950s?

The New Left

Who wrote Culture and Anarchy in 1869?

Matthew Arnold

What type of culture did Matthew Arnold focus on in Culture and Anarchy (1869)?

High, elite culture

During which period did Leavisism reach its peak?

1930s-1950s

Who were the primary figures associated with Leavisism?

F.R. Leavis and Q.D. Leavis

What canon of literary value is central to Leavisism?

Great Tradition

Why did F.R. Leavis and Q.D. Leavis reject popular culture?

Because they considered it contaminated by capitalism.

Which two British scholars took up the discussion of culture following Leavisism?

Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams

Cultural Studies is rooted in which two primary intellectual traditions/schools?

The New Left and the Frankfurt School

With which university institute was the Frankfurt School associated?

Institute of Social Research at the Goethe University, Frankfurt

When did the Frankfurt School emerge in the Weimar Republic?

During the Inter-war period (1918-39)

List the key intellectuals and scholars associated with the Frankfurt School as noted on Page 27.

Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, Frederick Pollock, Leo Lowenthal, and Jurgen Habermas

What was the Frankfurt School's position regarding capitalism and orthodox Marxism/Leninism?

They were critical of both capitalism and orthodox Marxism / Leninism.

In what year was the Institute for Social Research founded?

1923

Who founded the Institute for Social Research at Frankfurt?

Felix Weil and Friedrich Pollock

Who was the initial Director of the Institute for Social Research when founded in 1923?

Carl Grunberg

Who became Director of the Institute for Social Research in 1930?

Max Horkheimer

To which cities was the Institute for Social Research shifted in 1933 and 1934?

Geneva in 1933, and New York in 1934

Which university was the Institute for Social Research affiliated with in New York?

Columbia University

In what year did the Institute for Social Research reopen in Frankfurt?

1951

Which philosopher began the second generation of the Frankfurt School?

Jurgen Habermas

What major ideas and practices are associated with the Frankfurt School?

Critical Theory, Culture Industry, Negative dialectics, Eclipse of reason, Dialectical method, and critique of modernity and capitalism

How did Max Horkheimer define Critical Theory?

As an anti-dogmatic social critique meant to effect sociological change and intellectual emancipation.

What are the three main aims of Critical Theory regarding bourgeois society?

To analyze the significance of dominant ideologies, show how these ideologies misrepresent real-world human relations, and show how these misrepresentations legitimise capitalist oppression.

How does Critical Theory differ from traditional theory?

Traditional theory understands and explains the world, while Critical Theory critiques and changes it.

How is the Hegelian Dialectical Method used in Cultural Studies?

As a method of social criticism.

What three-step progression describes the struggle of opposites in Hegelian dialectics?

Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis

What are the three moments of Logic according to Hegel?

The Moment of Understanding, The Dialectical Moment, and The Speculative Moment

Who authored the book Dialectic of Enlightenment?

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer

In what year was Dialectic of Enlightenment published?

1944

Where was Dialectic of Enlightenment written?

During the Institute's exile in New York

Dialectic of Enlightenment was written as a response to which historical events?

The disastrous effects of the two World Wars and Hitler's Nazism.

Which epic literary work is used as a metaphor in Dialectic of Enlightenment to analyze bourgeois consciousness?

The Odyssey

How many pages of Dialectic of Enlightenment are dedicated to analyzing bourgeois consciousness through the Odyssey metaphor?

40 pages

What definition of Enlightenment did Immanuel Kant write in 1784?

'Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another….'

What Latin phrase serves as the motto of the Enlightenment?

Sapere Aude! (Have courage to use your own understanding)

What was Jurgen Habermas's view on Modernity?

He argued that Modernity is an unfinished project of reason and democracy that must be completed before Postmodernity dawns.

According to Adorno and Horkheimer, why did the Enlightenment fail?

Because reason has a dark side; Enlightenment was against myth, religion, and unjust power, but myth involves enlightenment and vice versa, causing Enlightenment to collapse into primeval repression.

In which chapter of Dialectic of Enlightenment is the 'Culture Industry' discussed?

'The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass deception'

How is the Culture Industry defined as a phenomenon of late capitalism?

Art no longer denotes pure autonomous forms, but commodified products carrying power that are imitative, superficial, and designed merely to entertain and distract rather than convey truths.

What movie example is cited in the notes to illustrate formulaic, recycled narratives of the Culture Industry?

Disney Movies

When did the New Left movement operate, and what key social issues did it engage with?

1960s-70s; civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, etc.

Who is considered the 'father' of the New Left?

Herbert Marcuse

What concept does Herbert Marcuse describe in Eros and Civilization?

Repressive Desublimation (where mass culture presents inauthentic false needs, sexual provocations, and instantaneous gratification to keep people repressed, apolitical, and uncritical).

Which book by Herbert Marcuse describes bourgeois life in Europe and America as lacking critical thought?

One-Dimensional Man

What international event in 1956 sparked the emergence of the New Left in Britain?

The Russian invasion of Hungary in 1956

Which journal was founded by E.P. Thompson and John Saville?

The Reasoner

What group within the Communist Party were E.P. Thompson and John Saville part of before being suspended?

Communist Party Historians Group (CPHG)

Which famous journal was formed in 1960 after merging The New Reasoner with another journal?

New Left Review

Which two 1956 international events triggered confused responses from the British Communist Party, fueling the British New Left?

The Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Revolution and the British and French invasion of the Suez Canal Zone.

Which early New Left thinker laid the foundations of Cultural Studies and Cultural Materialism?

Raymond Williams

Who was a prominent student of Raymond Williams mentioned in the lecture?

Terry Eagleton

What American student group was central to the New Left in the US and coined the term 'establishment'?

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

Name the key movements associated with the New Left in the US during the 1960s.

Anti-Vietnam War, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies), Black radicalism / Black Power Movement / Black Panther Party, Rebirth of Feminism, and Environmentalist Movement.

What is the lifespan of Michel Foucault given in the notes?

1926-1984

In Michel Foucault's methodology, what is the focus of Archeology vs Genealogy?

Archeology studies how a discourse or knowledge system is constructed; Genealogy studies how a human being is constructed within a network of power relations.

Which 1969 book by Michel Foucault outlines his archaeological approach?

The Archeology of Knowledge

How does Foucault describe power in Discipline and Punish (1975)?

Power is not an instrument wielded by people or groups as coercion; rather, power is everywhere, comes from everywhere, and is embodied in discourse, knowledge, and 'regimes of truth'.

How is Episteme defined in Foucault's The Order of Things?

The unconscious structures or set of rules and conventions that make certain knowledges possible in any particular period of time.

What term in Plato's philosophy is contrasted with Episteme?

Doxa (common belief or opinion)

What does Foucault mean by Dispositif (Apparatus)?

The various institutional, physical, and administrative mechanisms and knowledge structures which maintain the exercise of power within the social body.

In which work did Foucault introduce Biopolitics, and what does it mean?

In Volume 1 of The History of Sexuality (1976) titled The Will to Knowledge; it refers to mechanisms through which human life processes are managed within power/knowledge regimes.