scholarly journals Cultural Capital in China? Television tastes and cultural distinction among college students in Beijing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang GAO ◽  
giselinde kuipers

Can television taste function as cultural capital in contemporary China? This paper investigates, for the first time, how Chinese engage with global pop culture to mark their positions in China’s swiftly changing social and cultural hierarchies. Using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) of a survey (n=422) and 48 interviews with students at an elite Beijing university, we identify three distinct taste dimensions: not-knowers versus dislikers; TV lovers versus avoiders; and Western and Eastern TV taste. We identify dimensions 1 and 3 as cultural capital dimensions: respondents on the “high end” draw taste-based social boundaries vis-à-vis those on the low end, who in turn accept the hierarchies implied in these tastes. The two dimensions differ in the criteria used to make aesthetic distinctions, the type of cultural knowledge they rely on, and in the strength of their boundary-drawing. We conclude that the “Western” taste is more exclusive than the “dislike” taste. The first is mainly based on aesthetic criteria (complexity, authenticity), whereas the second combines aesthetic (complexity, depth) and cosmopolitan (language skills, international experience) distinctions. While the liking of both dimensions is related to parental cultural capital (education, occupation, urbanity), the “Western” taste also correlates with parental economic capital and international experience. This “discovery” of cultural capital in China has implications for our understanding of cultural and cosmopolitan capital, of the global diffusion of cultural goods and the aesthetic and status systems implied in these goods, and for our understanding of culture and stratification in China.

2018 ◽  
Vol 167 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rowe ◽  
Tony Bennett

This article introduces the Themed Section of Media International Australia, ‘Tastes and practices in three Australian cultural fields: television, music and sport’, which presents selected findings of the 2014-2015 survey of Australian cultural practices conducted as part of the Australian Research Council project Australian Cultural Fields: National and Transnational Dynamics (DP140101970). It briefly discusses the social organisation of the production of consumption of Australia in the period between the national cultural policies Creative Nation (1994) and Creative Australia (2013). The Introduction then outlines the methodology underlying the Australian Cultural Fields survey that, in building on the approach of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, was developed to assess how far entrenched cultural hierarchies and inequalities have been displaced by broadened patterns of access to arts and culture. Of particular concern is the role of traditional and new forms of cultural capital in differentiating patterns of cultural consumption and participation across relations of class, gender and ethnicity, which the distinctive survey design and administration seek to capture in the Australian context. Bringing together the methods of Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Cluster Analysis, each article highlights specific aspects of the relations between cultural tastes, practices, and social positions in contemporary Australia via an engagement with contemporary debates in cultural capital theory. The contributions on television (by Tony Bennett, Modesto Gayo, and David Rowe), music (Ben Dibley and Modesto Gayo) and sport (Modesto Gayo and David Rowe) address the dynamics of these Australian cultural fields, while also indicating the significance of their research findings for studies of other nationally-constituted cultural fields, as well as the contested play of cultural capital within nations and in the transnational/global sphere.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Tucci ◽  
Joanna J. Fröhlich ◽  
Inka Stock

Using a mixed methods approach, this article analyses the nexus between migration and social positions drawing on recent survey data on migrants who have arrived in Germany after 1994 from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), as well as qualitative interviews with 26 respondents to the survey. Drawing on a Bourdieusian forms of capital approach (Bourdieu, 1986) and applying the method of Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to the SOEP survey data, we highlight two dimensions structuring the nexus between migration and social positions in Germany: (1) capital related to legal status and multiple migration and (2) (trans)national cultural capital. Through a cluster analysis based on the MCA results, we then identify and describe four profiles of migrants characterised by distinct configurations of cultural capital (social class background, education and linguistic skills before and after settlement), legal status (citizenship and status at migration), experiences of multiple cross-border movements and social positions: the ‘foreign working-class,’ the ‘foreign middle class,’ the ‘adapted German migrants,’ and the ‘young highly educated urbans.’ The complementary analysis of the qualitative data allows us to go further in understanding some of the factors that may play a role in shaping migrants’ social position(ing) in the four clusters. In particular, we show that resources such as determination and perseverance can be crucial for some migrants to counter structural constraints related to their legal status in transferring or accessing cultural capital, and that linguistic skills are also used by some migrants as a marker of social distinction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Flávia Silvestre Outtes Wanderley ◽  
Ulisses Montarroyos ◽  
Cristine Bonfim ◽  
Carolina Cunha-Correia

Abstract Background To assess the effectiveness of mass treatment of Schistosoma mansoni infection in socially vulnerable endemic areas in northeastern Brazil. Method An ecological study was conducted, in which 118 localities in 30 municipalities in the state of Pernambuco were screened before 2011 and in 2014 (after mass treatment). Information on the endemic baseline index, mass treatment coverage, socio-environmental conditions and social vulnerability index were used in the multiple correspondence analysis. One hundred fourteen thousand nine hundred eighty-seven people in 118 locations were examined. Results The first two dimensions of the multiple correspondence analysis represented 55.3% of the variability between locations. The human capital component of the social vulnerability index showed an association with the baseline endemicity index. There was a significant reduction in positivity for schistosomes. For two rounds, for every extra 1% of initial endemicity index, the fixed effect of 13.62% increased by 0.0003%, achieving at most 15.94%. Conclusions The mass treatment intervention helped to reduce transmission of schistosomiasis in areas of high endemicity. Thus, it can be recommended that application of mass treatment should be accompanied by other control actions, such as basic sanitation, monitoring of intermediate vectors and case surveillance.


Author(s):  
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kormin

This article reveals the philosophical grounds of the aesthetics of color, analyzes the correlation between the structures of philosophical and artistic comprehension of coloristics. Interaction of philosophy and art as the forms of cultural identity manifests in the sphere of intellectual understanding of the perception of color and its semantics in painting. In the hidden logic of contemplation of color, can be traced the outlines of the problematic of transcendental and intelligible in art conditions for the aesthetic approach towards chromatic space. Color creates the visual beauty, thus it is apparent why the aesthetic knowledge seeks to clarify to which extent we can assess the experience of color – the result of coloration of light. The art itself creates the so-called color ontology of the world. First the first time, the beauty of color and its perception are analyzed in the context of correlation between art and transcendental traditions of philosophizing  (Descartes, Kant, early Husserl –  his work “The Philosophy of Arithmetic”) that allows matching the key to a new interpretation of the tradition of color. Determination of its meaning requires comparing history and structure of the philosophical and artistic metaphor of color. It is demonstrated that the phenomenon of color is of crucial significance for the aesthetics, as it implies not only comprehension of the problem of correlation between nature and art, but also cognition of the beauty of color, its universal value for all forms of art, profound structures of perception of coloristic phenomena, picturesque unveiling of the color harmony of the painting.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Durac ◽  

Reflecting on human attitude towards reality, together with deciphering the emotional code that accompanies it, has configured - in time – the aesthetic universe, open to human reflection, creation, and evaluation. Aesthetics appears through the way in which consciousness reacts and capitalises upon things in nature and society, or which belong to human subjectivity, including on artistic work, which have an effect on sensitiveness due to their harmony, balance and grandeur. As a fundamental attribute of the human being, creativity is the engine of cultural evolution, meaning the degree of novelty that man brings in his ideas, actions, and creations. Aesthetical values, together with the other types of values, contribute to what society represents and to what it can become, hence motivating human action and creation. Their role is to create a state of mind that encourages the cohesion, cooperation, and mutual understanding of the society. Integrating a chronological succession of the evolution of the concepts that objectify its structure, its aesthetics and creativity, this article stresses the synergetic nature of the two dimensions of human personality, paving the way to beauty, as a form of enchantment of the human spirit.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
A. E. Kozlov

Purpose. The reputation of the satirical weekly Iskra is traditionally determined by the political context of the Russian Empire in 1860s. Despite the fact that in the first years of its existence, the publication attracted writers of various fractions, views, and convictions, Iskra was perceived as a radical magazine, “…another department of Sovremennik”. Moreover, Iskra’s defamations and attacks against provincial and capital officials, and writers have become an inte gral part of the everyday life of the 1860s. Individual articles and whole issues have been banned and censored, though this policy only promoted and strengthened the reputation of weekly. Later, reflecting the importance of the magazine, the Soviet literary criticism established a typological relationship between Iskra by Kurochkines brothers and the left-wing newspaper of the same name published by V. I. Lenin at the beginning of the 20th century. This article attempts to reinterpret Iskra, implying a “weakening” of the sociological and political aspects of interpretation in favor of the aesthetic ones.Results. The article put forward a hypothesis that publications such as Charivari, Punch, and Iskra can be considered from perspective of modern discursive practices: post-folklore (the phenomenon of variable text and multiple authorship), post-modernity (discrediting the classical heritage or its carnival rethinking) and post-irony (deconstruction of modern leaders of opinion, self-exposure). Based on the study of prosaic and poetic parodies and satire, graphic texts - cartoons and serials (comics), the author analyzes the specificity of the construction and presentation of Russian reality as an anti-world. The article contains fragments of prose and poetic feuilletons by D. D. Minaev, V. P. Burenin, and M. Stopanovsky, many of which are published for the first time.Conclusion. Iskra as a product of the polemical journalism of the Russian Empire in 1860s displayedan experience of a new aesthetics (a kind of anti-aesthetics), synthesizing schoolchildren (cartoons) and decadent subcultures (Baudelaire translations). Apparently, the 8000 subscribers included not only a radical and democratic reader but also a general audience, equally tired of the official tone of government periodicals and the moralizing of the progressive camp. Demonstrating Russian life as the so-called ‘antiworld’, Iskra proposed a version of “carnival liberation”, which was probably reflected in the poetics of many contemporaries: M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, N. S. Leskov, F. M. Dostoevsky. In this regard, the issue of post-folklore, post-modernism, post-truth, and post-irony on the pages of Iskra rather remained unresolved. However, the change in perspective, it seems to us, enables reinterpretation of the previously collected data, allowing us to give a new interpretation. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-142
Author(s):  
Olivia Gillard

Abstract Objective: To investigate the impact of virtual learning experiences (VLEs) in school amongst disadvantaged 9 to 11-year-olds: specifically, do virtual experiences increase their knowledge, motivation and independence in learning about a topic, and does this increase their cultural capital. Methodology: Participants explored virtual experiences on countries around the world, with the number of facts learnt before and after recorded. Questionnaires were also completed to record views of virtual experiences. Findings: Findings suggest virtual experiences were successful in teaching participants new information, and increased their independence and motivation to engage with learning, and thus could be successful in increasing cultural capital. Significance difference testing revealed that disadvantaged pupils recorded fewer facts than non-disadvantaged pupils, and therefore virtual experiences were not sufficient to close this disadvantage gap. Value Added: The value of virtual experiences being woven into curriculums is discussed as a platform for teaching cultural knowledge. Recommendations: Virtual learning experiences should be considered a core resource for teachers when planning and should be embedded into the curriculum to enhance learning experiences for disadvantaged pupils. Further research should continue to explore the use of VLEs in Primary schools, and the impact of VLEs on cultural capital.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Shelli Rampold ◽  
Bradley Coleman ◽  
J. C. Bunch ◽  
Richie Roberts

This study was conducted to understand how students’ cultural awareness, knowledge, sensitivity, and communication abilities combine to influence their development of cultural competence. Q methodology (Q) was used to capture the subjectivity and lived experiences of participants of an international experience (IE) and assess the impact of the program on their cultural competence development. When viewed through the lens of the Personal Cultural Competence Enhancement Framework (PCCEF), findings suggested students’ cultural competence development could be interpreted through three typologies: (a) Cultural Learners, (b) Cultural Engagers, and (c) Cultural Samplers. Cultural Leaner students demonstrated new awareness of their limited amounts of cultural knowledge and desired to learn more about other cultures through future travel, but were still apprehensive about engaging and communicating with people from other cultures. Cultural Engagers, on the other hand, expressed greater confidence in stepping out of their comfort zones and communicating in a different language. Lastly, Cultural Samplers demonstrated increased awareness of the benefits of experiencing other cultures and they comforts they have back home, and they expressed a desire to continue traveling abroad in the future. These findings support the use of short-term IE programs as supplemental activities to foster agricultural students’ progression toward cultural competence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-502
Author(s):  
David Ross Hurley

In recent decades singers of Handel’s music have made great strides in recapturing the art of embellishing his music, thus breathing new life into forms such as the da capo aria. Yet Handel’s own “variations”—his development and transformation of musical material in his vocal music, important for understanding his compositional practice with borrowed as well as (presumably) original music—are not yet fully explored or appreciated. Admittedly, scholars have discussed musical procedures such as inserting, deleting, and reordering musical materials, as well as other Baroque combinatorial practices in Handel’s arias, but the musical transformations I discuss here are closer to a specifically Handelian brand of developing variation. To my knowledge, the concept of developing variation has never before been applied to early eighteenth-century music. I explore the relation of developing variation to drama (also rarely done) in two of Handel’s arias, providing a close examination of “Ombre, piante” from the opera Rodelinda and new thoughts about “Lament not thus,” originally intended for the oratorio Belshazzar. Although these arias belong to different genres and different stages of Handel’s career, they both exhibit material that undergoes a kind of progressive variation process that has tangible musical and dramatic ramifications, of interest to opera specialists and performers. Furthermore, both arias have a complicated compositional history; I offer fresh insights into the aesthetic qualities of each version, thereby throwing light on Handel’s possible compositional intentions. This article also discloses for the first time some recurring musical passages shared between “Lament not thus” and other pieces that could influence the listener’s interpretation of certain musico-dramatic gestures.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-462
Author(s):  
Karla J. McDermid ◽  
Keelee J. Martin ◽  
Maria C. Haws

Abstract Up-to-date information about the unique marine flora of the Hawaiian Islands – its environment, uses, cultivation, conservation, and threats – comes from many sources, and is compiled here for the first time. The seaweed resources of the Hawaiian Islands are taxonomically diverse, biogeographically intriguing, ecologically complex, culturally significant, and economically valuable. Macroalgae, historically and today, are critical components of the marine ecosystem, as well as the diet and culture of people living in the islands. Some Hawaiian seaweeds are known to contain valuable bioactive compounds that have potential medical and pharmaceutical applications. Cultivation of Hawaiian seaweeds is carried out in tanks, ponds, and along the shoreline, both commercially and by “back-yard” farmers. Several community groups are actively working to preserve cultural knowledge, to re-plant the reefs, and to remove invasive algal species. The seaweed resources of Hawaiʻi are cherished, but are at risk. The future of seaweed cultivation, maintenance and revitalization of native populations, and preservation of cultural knowledge relies on the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders.


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