Sociology of Culture Commons^™

"The Future Good And Great Of Our Land": Republican Mothers, Female Authors, And Domesticated Literacy In Antebellum New England, Sarah Robbins

Faculty Articles

In an 1830s review of Lydia Maria Child's Good Wives published in Sarah Hale's Ladies' Magazine, the enthusiastic commentator quoted above sets Child's latest book within a thriving literary culture that values didactic literature. Acknowledging the importance of a genre I call the domestic literacy narrative, the reviewer confidently asserts that "the prevalent rage for reading" promises to promote not only familial but national well-being-promises, that is, if more books like Child's are regularly published to help train women to direct their family's reading and extract from it principles and behaviors consonant with their country's "future good."

Autotopography: Graffiti, Landscapes, & Selves, Deirdre Heddon

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

For some time now I have been interested in autobiographical performance -- some form of the theatrical, in which performers explicitly use personal material in their work. Within this general field of autobiography and performance, one area of research concerns performances that are dependent on being located in personalised space -- what could be called, then, site-specific autobiographical performance. A recent example of this would be the performance Bubbling Tom (2000), by the UK based performer Mike Pearson, which saw Pearson return to the village of his childhood, to reflect upon and re-enact certain memories, events and persons …

Rorty's Complicit American Neo-Pragmatism, Haidar Eid

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Despite the obvious French origin of poststructuralism, its paradigmatic resonance can be found in the American philosophical scene, an essential part of which is Richard Rorty's neo-pragmatism -- the theoretical basis of American (post)modernism. However, different from poststructuralism's apparent antagonism to the authoritarian establishments, Rorty adopts the Derridean poststructuralist motifs of the decentering of the subject, and the disappearance of meaning and truth in order to defend the establishment -- or rather, the status quo.

On Guillermo Gomez-Peña's El Mexterminator And Cyber Vato, Michael Benton

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

While attending Bowling Green State University in 1997 I had an experience that changed my worldview. I was a teaching assistant in the Popular Culture department and part of my responsibilities included teaching Introduction to Popular Culture (POPC 100) and Introduction to Mass Media (POPC 165). I had been struggling to engage my students in examining the way in which social reality is represented to them through popular entertainments [2]. The majority of my students were white, middle class students from the surrounding Northern regions of Ohio. My students were well-versed in the ongoing controversy over whether or …

The Ruse Of The Social: Human Waste And The Gated Community, Liam Mcnamara

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

One of the central problems of contemporary society is that of “the social”: how it is defined, constituted, conjured into existence, and supported. Jean Baudrillard has employed the term “the social” in his work, but it is never explicitly defined; it is best understood as a form of simulation that has sprung into existence in the absence of symbolic social relations. The social is constituted of all the phenomena that are generally studied by sociology, so is therefore ideologically conceived of as an organic structure that is waiting for analysis. The “social” is society, both as it stands …

Ideology And Public Sphere: A Preliminary Bibliography, Giorgio Bertellini, C. Paul Sellors

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Bibliography accompanies Bertellini & Sellors article Breaking the Mimetic Contract: Notes on Ideology, Intersubjectivity, and Film Theory

Kajian Imej Etnik Lain Dalam Cerpen-Cerpen Mahua (1970an-1990an), Kok Keong Ng

Student Works (2000-2009)

Sastera Mahua adalah sastera yang unik. Keunikan bukanlah sahaja terletak pada fungsinya sebagal penyampai dan cermin hasrat serta fikiran masyarakat, sebaliknya ia mempamerkan pelbagal cirl-clrl yang lstimewa berbandlng dengan sastera China. Salah satu faktor perlu dltegas, ialah tempat kelahirannya yang berlatarkan struktur masyarakat majmuk dengan bahasa, budaya serta agama sesama etnik berbeza, secara semula jadi telah menyediakan sumber-sumber penulisan yang subur bagi penulls Cina di Malaysia. Apabila suatu fenomena hendak dipapar ataupun perasaan hendak diluah, mahupun mesej hendak disampai oleh karyawan Cina, secara tidak langsung sudah pasti mereka tldak dapat lari dari realltl masyarakat Malaysia yang merangkuml semua perbezaan ahli …

Review Of Punktown, By Jeffrey Thomas, Matthew Wolf-Meyer

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

Teori Strukturalisme Genetik : Penerapan Terhadap Novel-Novel Pramoedya Ananta Teor, Azman Ismail

Student Works (2000-2009)

KEDUDUKAN Pramoedya Ananta Toer dalam konteks perkembangan sastera moden Indonesia khususnya di era Angkatan 45 telah diteliti dari pelbagai perspektif oleh sarjana-sarjana Indonesia, Malaysia dan Barat. Sumbangan besar dalam mengubah hala tuju sastera kotemporari Indonesia selepas perang telah memberi kesan penting khususnya dari aspek gaya, pendekatan dan tema. Novel-novelnya sebagai contoh, merupakan pandangan kesedaran kelompok masyarakat bawahan Indonesia dalam mcmperjuangkan kepentingan mereka. Pembahasan dalam tulisan ini dengan menggunakan teori Strukturalisme Genetik oleh Lucien Goldmann akan melihat bagaimana aspek-aspek kesedaran kolektif masyarakat bawahan dalam tiga era diketengahkan. Menerusi disertasi ini, penerapan teori Strukturalisme Genetik ke dalam novel-novel Pramoedya dibahagikan kepada enam …

Islam Di Keningau : Sejarah Dan Kesannya Terhadap Budaya Perkahwinan Masyarakat Bumiputera Kadazandusun, Siti Suriyani Sulaiman

Student Works (2000-2009)

SJTI SURIYANI BINTI SULAJMAN. Islam In Keningau : The History And The Effect To The Marriage Culture Of The Kadazandusun Bumiputera Community. Thesis, Kuala Lumpur : University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2001. Information of the arrival of Islam in Sabah is not sufficient, likewise the history of Islam in Keningau is not definite. Based on the information from reliable sources, Islam was spread after the World War Two. Although Islam has changed the belief of Kadazandusun Bumiputera Community, their lifestyle certainly have not change. Customs and prohibition arc assimilated with Islamic way. To see the effect of the arrival …

The Professional Academic And Hubris: The Case Of Yongyi Song, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes a reification of academic activities in a world where there may be many kings. This reification is often employed as a vehicle to support human and civil rights initiatives. Unfortunately, this vehicle may mitigate against such rights.

The Racialization Of Sexuality: The Queer Case Of Jeffrey Dahmer, Ian Barnard

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In this article I read media and subcultural representations of Jeffrey Dahmer, the white male U.S. serial killer who gained notoriety in the late 1980s for having sex with and then murdering and dismembering men of color in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My aim is to show the extent to which the degree of Dahmer's homosexualization in a particular representation determines Dahmer' s thinking and actions in the sphere of race, and to suggest how spiraling efforts to separate race from sexuality in the Dahmer case only further intricate the two analytic axes."

Representing Culture: Reflexivity And Mormon Folklore Scholarship, David A. Allred

Theses and Dissertations

When writing about a culture, ethnographers can convey important insights about society. However, ethnography can also misrepresent culture. To address this fact, reflexive ethnography attempts to influence both the methodology and the rhetoric of writing about culture. Reflexivity seeks to acknowledge the bias of the researcher. To include the voice of the cultural insiders, and to more closely represent the dynamics of cultures that always have an element of hybridity. However, reflexive ethnographies can also be unwieldy and impractical. Therefore, one must find a pragmatic application of reflexivity.

Reflexivity can have application to Mormon folklore studies. The most important Mormon …

Confucianist's Perception Of Woman : Its Influence On Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior : Memoirs Of A Girlhood Among Ghosts And Amy Tan's The Joyluck Club, Yoke Lin Yap

Student Works (2000-2009)

This thesis proposes to examine critically how the fundamental ideals contained within the philosophy of Confucius have evolved into social rites and rituals contained within the Five Classics and Four Classics for women. This is important for it is the social conventions that form the essential patriarchal structure in addition to the moral as well as behavioral norms of Chinese society. The study and analysis of Confucius' principal doctrines will help us understand the roles and responsibilities held by Chinese women within the structural hierarchy of Chinese family and society in general. The above will provide for a unique comparison …

Tingkah Laku Pengguna Terhadap Muzik : Kajian Di Kalangan Belia Terhadap Lagu Melayu Nusantara, Noorihal Muhammad

Student Works (2000-2009)

The aim of this study is to identify the characteristics that are outstanding in the youth of today towards the special kind of music and songs that are generally referred lagu Melayu Nusantara'. The factors that influence the attraction of the youth of today towards this kind of music is given prominence. These factors are as follows, ( i ) the existence of forces that attract these youth to this particular kind of music, ( ii ) the singer presenting the song and finally, ( iii ) the lyrics of the song that captivates the youth. In my study, I …

Without Closets, Without Shame: Conference Commemorates Latino/A Autobiography And Testimony, Oscar Montero, Elena Martínez, Ramón Rivera-Servera

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Crossing Borders '99, the second CLAGS conference focusing on Latino/a queers, opened Thursday evening, March 11, with a Cabaret Night hosted by the "Songbird of Cuba," Carmelita Tropicana. The evening, subtitled "Sin closet/sin verguenza" ("Without Closets/Without Shame") featured, among others, Deyanira Bautista's Afro-Caribbean Drums, dancer Arthur Aviles with his nude flying body, and the sultry, seductive, Mexican drag chanteuse, Tito Vasconcelos.

“All Things Considered”: A Comparative Case Study Examining The Commercial Presence Within Public Radio, Peter P. Nieckarz Iii

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the commercial presence within public radio. A case study of three NPR affiliate stations was conducted to determine to what extent public radio is being influenced or compromised by increased commercial rationality. It also addresses how they have been able to resist commercialism and remain true to the original ideals of public radio. The research included active interviews, observations, and document analyses of data collected from field research at each o f the three stations in the sample. Analysis of the data indicates that public radio stations have grown more commercial due to declining tax-based subsidies, and …

Building “A Home Of Our Own:” The Construction Of The Lesbian Herstory Archives, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

This article traces the founding of the Lesbian Herstory Archives in the context of radical archiving and lesbian institution building. It includes an outline of problems presented by "extra-legal" or outlaw material in archival settings. Discussion of the New York Public Library's Becoming Visible exhibit reflects the 1990s growth of mainstream institutional interest in gay, lesbian, and transgender archives, and the complications this interest presents.

A Study Of Ideological Change In Reggae Music From 1971 To 1993, William H. Stanley

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to see if the reggae music that became popular in the United States was ideologically different from the reggae that originated in Jamaica. The hypothesized change was derived from a model developed by Humphrey Regis (1994, 1988) labeled “cultural domination by re-exportation”. It was determined that early reggae music and the Rastafarian religion had very similar ideologies. The change within reggae music was measured against the Rastafarian belief system.

A content analysis of twenty-five songs was undertaken. The method of doing ideological analysis of the reggae lyrics was derived from Cormack (1992). The sample …

Popular Music In A Transnational World: The Construction Of Local Identities In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As an area of geographical inquiry, popular music has not been explored to any large extent. Where writings exist, they have been somewhat divorced from recent theoretical and methodological questions that have rejuvenated social and cultural geography. In this paper, I focus on one arena which geographers can develop in their analysis of popular music, namely, the exploration of local influences and global forces in the production of music. In so doing, I wish to explore how local resources intersect with global ones in a process of transculturation. Using the example of English songs by one particular songwriter and artiste …

Seducing America: Is Gambling A Good Bet?, Rex M. Rogers

Alumni Book Gallery

In Seducing America, Rex Rogers stirs Christians into action with heart wrenching true stories of lives destroyed by the "acceptable addiction" of gambling. He provides a biblical analysis and hard-hitting look at legalized gambling's effects on America's social, cultural, and political welfare.

Jane Addams On Autonomy And Responsibility, Marilyn Fischer

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Addams understands autonomy and responsibility from the perspective of American pragmatism. Like her collaborator and friend, John Dewey, Addams believes one ascertains an idea's meaning and truth by applying it in practice. Hull House was founded explicitly as a pragmatist test for her ideas on ethics and social change (Lagemann 1994, 77).

Verifying philosophical ideas rests on two methodological prerequisites: concrete experience and sympathetic understanding. Addams repeatedly stresses how emotions serve as the starting point for ethical change, although they need to be cultivated and guided by experience and reason. In addressing social problems, Hull House residents first gathered statistics …

Creating And Measuring Media Literacy : A Case Study, Darin M. Johnson

Graduate Research Papers

Seven years later, I stood before high school students in Ames, Iowa, with the proposition that we study media as a collection of cultural artifacts. Behind many of our discussions was the assumption that media convey values and that these values influence our personal values. What was missing from my instruction was an organizational structure that would help students see the necessary patterns, methods and stereotypes in order to better comprehend the values in these messages.

After a summer of contemplation, I decided thematic instruction would most naturally allow us to examine important media while capstoning themes from the required …

Ideology, Social Commentary And Resistance In Popular Music: A Case Study Of Singapore, Phua Siew Chye, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Popular music as a site of struggles over meaning is focused upon, where the social and political relations between different groups in Singapore society are mirrored. How ruling elites and everyday people make use of the same cultural form--popular music--for different purposes is examined.

The Cross-Cultural Use Of Sexually Explicit Language To Express Anger And Aggression, Deanna May

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Freud postulated that the instincts of sex and aggression are fused. One possible example of the expression of this fusion is the use of sexually explicit language to convey anger and aggression. If this usage is universal, then it may be construed as evidence for Freud's theory. The present study attempted to determine the pervasiveness of the use of sexually explicit language to express anger and aggression (SEL). Thirty-one epresentatives of languages other than American English completed questionnaires detailing the use of SEL in their native cultures. Results indicated that 28 of the respondents reported use of SEL in their …

Popular Music And A Sense Of Place In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper illustrates how popular music written, produced, and performed by Singaporeans provides a means through which the culture and society of Singapore may be understood. Music with English language text conveys a sense of place and reflects a distinctively Singaporean spirit and identity. The paper examines four themes: the portrayal of Singapore's multiracial population which reflects a unique cultural synthesis; the Singaporeans' concept of urbanity, manifested as the simultaneous attraction and repulsion towards the city and the desire for nature and the rustic; the distinctive social engineering in Singapore; and the way in which global issues are imported into …

Making "Music At The Margins"? A Social And Cultural Analysis Of Xinyao In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Formalist critics and aestheticians have argued that music does not possess any kind of "extra-musical" significance, that there is no meaning beyond the form and structural relations of the notes. For them, music exemplifies the laws of mathematical harmony and proportion rather than the social and political contexts within which it is produced, reproduced and consumed. This view has been challenged by a number of social theorists: Max Weber, Theodor Adorno and Edward Said have all argued for an understanding of music within its social, cultural, economic and political contexts. Such analysis of popular music is now unquestioned. Indeed, it …

Music And Cultural Politics: Ideology And Resistance In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper focuses on popular music written and produced by Singaporeans to illustrate the nature of social relationships based on ideological hegemony and resistance. Analysis is based on two groups of music: 'national' songs supported by the government in the 'Sing Singapore' programme; and songs brought together in Not the Singapore song book. Interviews with local lyricists and analysis of video productions provide supplementary information. Music is used by the ruling elite to perpetuate certain ideologies aimed at political socialization and to inculcate a civil religion that directs favour and fervour towards the nation. Music is also a form of …

Vilifying The Enemy: The Christian Right And The Novels Of Frank Peretti, Jay R. Howard

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Peretti's novels provide a clear statement of the worldview of conservative Christians who hold the Bible to be literally true and without error. Not only is the reader presented with doctrinal positions, but the implications of those positions for life in modern society are spelled out as well. In this essay, I analyze Peretti's views of the modern world, its heroes and villains, and argue they are representative of the views of the New Christian Right (Liebman and Wuthnow) in the late 1980s and the 1990s.

Book Review, Suzanne B. Watson

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of the book: HELENA SZEJNWALD BROWN, ET AL., CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTALISM IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY: SOCIETAL VALUES IN INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER. (Quorum Books 1993) [264 pp.] Acknowledgments, bibliography, figures, index, tables. LC 92- 19851; ISBN: 0-89930-802-3. [$49.95. P.O. Box 5007, Westport CT 06881.]