Are Unpreferred Preferences Weak in Symbolic Content?

2013 ◽  
pp. 97-110
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Alba Colombo ◽  
Jaime Altuna ◽  
Esther Oliver-Grasiot

Popular festivities and traditional events are important moments in which symbolic content, deep emotions and community solidarity are developed. However, there has been little research on the relationship between such events and their social networks and the power relations within these networks. This paper explores the ability of community events and networks to reflect and strengthen social context. Rather than observing the capacity of the event to generate a network, we focus on identifying how the event network is constructed, and how it creates relationships between the different groups, or nodes, within broader social networks. The case analysed is the Correfoc de la Mercè, a traditional firework event in Barcelona involving the Colles de diables, or Catalan popular fire culture groups. Our findings show that there is a bidirectional link or a mutual dependence between the groups (or nodes) and the event, which also support the development of shared social and symbolic capital.


Author(s):  
Jakub Sadowski

AbstractIn the renewed Russian Fundamental Law, in addition to a number of provisions introducing changes to the political system, there are also statements of programmatic importance, as well as several provisions with symbolic and identity function. In this article these provisions are subject to functional and semiotic-cultural analysis. Particular emphasis has been placed on legally irrelevant content transmitted by the new regulations, on their semantic connections with the content of the preamble and on their cultural context. The research procedure carried out allows us to state that, compared with the 1993 text, the Russian Constitution in its current version participates to a much greater extent in the complex system of transmission of symbolic content, as well as the narratives that contribute to social memory, cultural and historical identity. In doing so, it goes beyond its genre limitations, opening the basic text to the functions assigned to the preamble. In the fragments I have analysed in the paper there are undoubtedly functional and genre disturbances, and with them changes the mode of semiosis of the legal text, both in its normative and programmatic form. Renewed Constitution is the case in which a legal text, by its very nature designing the possible future world, does so through ideas about the past.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dionne Steven

<p>In this thesis I examine civil unions from the perspective of New Zealand-based same-sex couples who have chosen to formalise their relationship. My approach is qualitative and in-depth and focuses on interpreting participants' own meanings and beliefs while also recognising the need for broader contextual knowledge. Through participants’ narratives, I explore why it was important for couples to have a civil union, how they chose to mark or enact the occasion, and the meanings they attribute to their choices and actions. Rather than treating the civil union as an isolated event, my analysis situates the civil union within four longer processual trajectories: individual biographical narratives, partner interactions, close social relationships, and trajectories of a socio-political nature. I then explore the contours of participants’ civil union ceremonies in terms of scale, style, and symbolic content. Throughout the thesis, I argue that civil unions facilitate incorporation for same-sex couples on a number of levels: incorporation in terms of inclusion in an important ‘meaning-constitutive’ practice; familial incorporation; and incorporation into mainstream society more generally. The incorporating effects of civil unions owe much to the symbolic capacities of law, the meaning inscribed in the socially dominant cultural model of marriage, and the characteristics of ritual. The importance of ritual to the anthropological enterprise is reaffirmed through this study; not only do rituals provide an important lens through which to examine the normative values of society but also the origins of social revitalization.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shewangu Dzomira

The study seeks to examine the espousal of the combined assurance model in South Africa’s public sector, since there is not solitary autonomous unit that offers assurance in seclusion but various units add to the assurance progression. The study is grounded on stewardship theory in which various concepts of stewardship imply it to be a function of governments’ accountability for the wellbeing of citizens. This research study followed a qualitative research approach in which data were analyzed qualitatively based on an interpretative philosophy which examined meaningful and symbolic content of qualitative data from general reports on the provincial audit outcomes for the period (2014-2015). It was concluded that the level of appreciation of the combined assurance model and assurance provision in South African public sector is commendable, although there is still a need to improve and fully implement the model so as to attain good governance through stewardship advance. To that end, the governing body in South Africa’s public sector needs to augment its monitoring of harmonized and all inclusive approach in internal control systems, risk management and compliance issues. This serves in the best legitimate interests and expectations of the “inclusive stakeholders” via embracing of stewardship approach. Keywords: combined assurance, public sector, stewardship, Auditor General. JEL Classification: E61, H20


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Olena Moroz

The analysis of the sermons of the Archbishop of Volynskyy and Zhytomyrskyy Dimitriy, delivered on the occasion of the opening of the Orthodox Churches in Volyn region at the end of XIX – early XX centuries, is relevant. It helps to analyze and reveal the symbolic and essential features of the Orthodox Church, to compare the outlook and religious views of modern Orthodox adherents in assessing the role of the spiritual temple, determining its place in the life of the modern man. Spiritual temples of Volyn region at the end of XIX – early XX centuries as religious and cultural centers have been played an important role in the life of the region. The purpose of this article is to analyze the main symbolic content of the architectural forms of the Orthodox Church, to find out their meaningful content, to convey to the modern generation the spiritual and sacred meaning of the religious temple through the prism of Christian virtues. Research methods: according to the purposes a wide range of methods was applied. The historical method was used to clarify the foundations and purpose of the first religious buildings of Christianity. Structural-functional method was used for revealing the basic ideas of architectural forms of the temple, their symbolic and sacred content related to basic criteria of life of the Orthodox adept: attending spiritual temples, Divine liturgies; observance of the Decalogue, the sacraments of the Orthodox Church; love, morality, humility. The method of comparison and analogy was applied to highlight the vital priorities of a true Orthodox adept. The author notes that the spiritual temple is the God's Kingdom on earth, the source and the original guardian of spiritual and religious values. The quintessence of the spiritual temples of Volyn at the end of XIX – early XX centuries is expressed by: firstly, the spiritual temple is a symbol of the impulse of human essence to heaven, eternal, sacred; secondly, the spiritual temple is a holy and unity place (holiness is expressed by the concentration of the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, unity is expressed by the uniting power of believers of the Orthodox people); thirdly, the value of the spiritual temple, according to the thoughts of Archbishop of Volynskyy and Zhytomyrskyy Dimitriy, is not determined by external decoration, but by the sacraments of the Orthodox Church, sincere prayer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 92-99
Author(s):  
А. А. Gruzdev ◽  

The history of art is marked by many experiments in expanding and contrasting different methods and concepts. Nevertheless, in recent years there have been increasing attempts to draw parallels between iconology and semiotics. Of particular interest is the so-called Erwin Panofsky method, which forms the basis of modern iconology. The article discusses various aspects of the use of the iconological method in connection with the semiotic analysis of artistic works. Both general questions of the formation of iconology and special questions of its application and synthesis in the context of semiotic analysis are highlighted. A brief overview of the main iconological principles in revealing the figurative and symbolic content of the work is given, and the main features of the structural mechanisms underlying the semiotic approach are summarized. The scientific novelty of the work is determined primarily by the fact that for the first time the peculiarities of the application of the iconological method as one of the tools of semiotic analysis are investigated. Semiotics and iconology have a wide range of application in the study of culture-specific relations, since in contemporary art criticism, there is a great scientific interest in understanding the artwork as a carrier of national-cultural information. All this increases the methodological possibilities for studying the artwork, and thus expands the boundaries of the historical study of fine art.


1982 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-317
Author(s):  
John Beldon Scott

The symbolic content of Borromini's S. Ivo alla Sapienza is examined in the light of documents of the period, particularly the construction documents in the Archivio di Stato in Rome. This material makes a significant contribution toward resolving questions related to iconographic elements in the groundplan, spiral tower, and interior stucco decoration of the chapel. The determining factors for the symbolic meaning of the imagery of S. Ivo are shown to be the iconography of the saint, the ceremonial functions of the chapel, and the changing patronage of three popes. S. Ivo serves as a case study for Borromini's introduction of symbolic elements into the fabric and decoration of his works, demonstrating that the nature of that imagery-seen in its 17th-century context-is not esoteric and that our view of Borromini as a speculative thinker in architecture is exaggerated and anachronistic.


2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Rosenberg

A phenomenon noted in early sedentary and semi-sedentary settlements in the southern Levant is the use of groundstone tools as ‘building material’ incorporated into structure walls. It is argued in this article that these artefacts should not be perceived merely as construction material, but rather they should be seen as having a symbolic purpose owing to the social and economic significance that groundstone tools acquired during the transition to agriculture and the growing importance of food processing. This assumed symbolic purpose may also originate from ritual contexts in which these artefacts processed foodstuffs and other substances, thereby becoming ‘positive’ symbols of prosperity and success. Such symbolic content may result from their economic significance interlaced with their association with specific persona and familial and personal heritage. It is suggested that the qualities of the tools lent an element of potency to these artefacts and probably led to their inclusion in structure walls. The linkage between persona, space and positive potency may have granted status or protection to the structures and also may have assisted in marking ownership of the property.


2009 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Elena Abramov-van Rijk

One difficulty in understanding the poetic texts of Trecento madrigals is that the language they use is often that of allegories and symbols, which requires a key for deciphering their true meaning. It is widely accepted, based on the interpretation of birds as heraldic symbols, that the madrigal Aquil'altera (Proud eagle) by Jacopo da Bologna was written either for a wedding or for a coronation ceremony. In this essay, however, I show that Aquila's content and literary style echo ideas and images that were circulating in the literature of the time, and especially in bestiaries and bestiary-inspired Italian poetry. Since these sources were well known to every educated person of the time, we may assume that its symbolic content, which is actually a praise of the human intellect, would have been understood by listeners and readers. This madrigal in turn provides a stimulus for tracing its ideas in other musical compositions of the Trecento, the madrigals Musica son by Francesco Landini and Se premio di virtù by Bartolino da Padova. These compositions are examined in the context of a specific cultural phenomenon in Italy of this period, namely, tenzoni, or correspondence in poetic forms – a practice that was the natural domain of the phenomenon we know as intertextuality.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document