symbolism and myth lectures

symbolic objects

forms of social communication, readily conveying information about group identity to other cultural members or outsiders

Geertz thick description

culture is viewed as a text to be read and interpreted; using techniques of literary analysis and translating ideas/images; implicit notion of an author’s voice

described a cockfight

phallic symbols

object that symbolically or iconically resembles a penis; meant to represent male generative powers

totemism definition

means of associating social groups w/animals, instilling coherence and distinctiveness by being identified with natural entities

Levi-Strauss

critiqued early research on totemism bc it was too simple; matters are more complex, exchange of similarities and differences btwn culture and nature

myths explain/resolve contradiction in a culture that cannot be resolved

narratives definition

structure a worldview or cultural perspective

discourses are…

operative (subjects/objects) shift in/out of discourses vs change the narrative

myth definition

about the structure of the universe, particularly origins and cosmology

structured by narrative

cosmology science definition

the study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe

cosmology culture definition

knowledge, beliefs, interpretations, and practices of a society or culture related to explanations about origins of the universe; on the meaning of humans, life, and the world, within the universe or cosmos

explanations of the past, present, and future

tricksters

enables breaches of the accepted order to occur w/in the realm of the imagination

uses w/the marginal liminal status to mediate or resolve human dilemmas

what does every superhero have?

a narrative and origin

when did superhero movies take off?

following 9/11

othering

cultural difference is reshaped into a mirror that reflects back the values and anxieties of the observer

how we define and ratify the human; the outside status magnifies anxieties about belonging

what do zombies symbolize?

they are malleable; you can make them stand for any variety of fear

symbolize day-to-day existence

what do vampires symbolize?

eternal life with blood and connection with afterlife → christianity connection

sexual symbol

anxieties over impurities and contagion

racial metaphor