A Cognitive Theory of Cultural Meaning

Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-521-59409-7
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 9, 335 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 697 g

Reihe: Publications of the Society for Psychological Anthropology

'Culture' and 'meaning' are central to anthropology, but anthropologists do not agree on what they are. Claudia Strauss and Naomi Quinn propose a new theory of cultural meaning, one that gives priority to the way people's experiences are internalized. Drawing on 'connectionist' or 'neural network' models as well as other psychological theories, they argue that cultural meanings are not fixed or limited to static groups, but neither are they constantly revised and contested. Their approach is illustrated by original research on understandings of marriage and ideas of success in the United States.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Strauss, Claudia

Quinn, Naomi

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Materielle Kultur, Wirtschaftsethnologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Allgemeines
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Religionsethnologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Sozialpsychologie Kulturpsychologie, Ethnopsychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Politische Ethnologie, Recht, Organisation, Identität
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Umwelt und Kultur, Kulturökologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I. Background: 1 Introduction; 2. Anthropological resistance; 3. Schema theory and connectionism; 4. Two properties of cultures; 5. Three further properties of culture; Part II. Practice and Possibilities: 6. Research on shared task solutions; 7. Research on the pschodynamics of shared understandings; 8. Research on cultural discontinuities; 9. Beyond old oppositions.