Sociocultural Representations Research Articles

Trust and distrust in food among non-dependent elderly people in Spain. Study on socio-cultural representations through the analysis of cultural domains

The social and cultural representations of food are essential when it comes to understanding the perception of risk and the trust/distrust that people place on it. In this paper, we analyse the attributes and categories that non-dependent older people aged 65 and over living in Spain use when talking about trust/distrust in relation to food. In order to explore how they manifest different social meanings, we have conducted a study based on an analysis of cultural domains. The results of examining free-listing and pile-sort techniques were triangulated with the narratives obtained from interviews, life histories, food diaries and participatory workshops. The ethnographic research was conducted between June 2021 and June 2022 in the autonomous communities of Andalusia and Catalonia as well as the Valencian Community. Understanding the criteria for trust and distrust through the analysis of cultural domains allows us to better comprehend what food risks are perceived by older people and what value they place on food safety in their food choices. This study aims to provide qualified input for the development of healthier eating habits with recommendations for making ageing an easier process.

On Integrating Generative Models into Cognitive Architectures for Improved Computational Sociocultural Representations

What might the integration of cognitive architectures and generative models mean for sociocultural representations within both systems? Beyond just integration, we see this question as paramount to understanding the potential wider impact of integrations between these two types of computational systems. Generative models, though an imperfect representation of the world and various con-texts, nonetheless may be useful as general world knowledge with careful considerations of sociocultural representations provided therein, including the represented sociocultural systems or, as we explain, genres of the Human. Thus, such an integration gives an opportunity to develop cognitive models that represent from the physiological/biological time scale to the social timescale and that more accurately represent the effects of ongoing sociocultural systems and structures on behavior. In addition, integrating these systems should prove useful to audit and test many generative models under more realistic cognitive uses and conditions. That is, we can ask what it means that people will likely be using knowledge from such models as knowledge for their own behavior and actions. We further discuss these perspectives and focus these perspectives using ongoing and potential work with (primarily) the ACT-R cognitive architecture. We also discuss issues with using generative models as a system for integration.

Representation in Media Accessibility

This article is a theoretical essay discussing the potential for the analysis of media accessibility contents and practices (AD, SDH, Sign Language Interpreting, etc.) through a queer feminist lens, which makes it possible to tackle the representation of diversity and non-normativity. Based on a literature review of previous works on the intersection of Queer and Feminist Studies, and Media Accessibility and Disability Studies, it shows the need for this approach based on the nature of media accessibility services, which primarily cater for people with disabilities, a historically excluded minority actively involved in the claim for socio-cultural space and representation. It then proposes a method of work and analysis that combines queer and feminist translation strategies – a method, which is subsequently applied to commercial instances of audio description of diversity. The conclusions highlight the need to bring accessibility closer to contemporary concerns in research, i.e., gender, queer, feminist, and postcolonial issues. Some future lines of research are proposed, such as the expansion of this model of analysis to other accessibility services or the call for interlinguistic studies. Lay summary This article presents theoretical essay which describes the potential of the analysis of media accessibility, those services for the visually impaired and the Deaf, such as audio description, subtitling and Sign Language Interpreting, through a queer feminist lens able to tackle the representation of non-normative characters and narratives: racialised or queer individuals, for instance. Based on a literature review that gathers previous works on Queer and Feminist Studies, and Media Accessibility and Disability Studies, it shows the need for this approach based on the nature of media accessibility services, which target people with disabilities, a minority actively involved in the claim for socio-cultural representation. It then proposes a method of work and analysis that combines queer and feminist translation strategies, which is subsequently applied to real excerpts of audio description of series. The conclusions highlight the need to bring accessibility closer to contemporary concerns in research, i.e. gender, queer, feminist, and postcolonial issues. Some future lines of research are proposed, such as the expansion of this model of analysis to other accessibility services or the call for studies combining different languages.

Self-representation and Intercultural Acceptance in Comic Book Ma Voisine est Indonésienne

The research specifically examined French and Indonesian individuals’ representation from cognitive and interactional perspectives within sociocultural and sociocognitive contexts, mainly using dialogues in the comic book “Ma voisine est Indonésienne” (My Neighbor is Indonesian) by Emmanuel Lemaire. This comic strip was about the discovery of France through an Indonesian woman’s eyes and transcribes the two cultures’s encounters. The textual and structural aspects of the conversations were subject to analyses; their topical and situational dimensions were examined. NVIVO was used to support the qualitative analysis. The findings contribute to the development of a discourse analysis model of representation and perception of culturally based images or culturological models of communication, drawing heavily on Ulrike Niens’ social identity theory. The findings suggest that stereotypical conversations between the Indonesian and French characters in the comic book primarily occur within a social context, indicating that stereotyping is part of a complex dynamic process involving elements of subjectivity, collectivity, and intersubjectivity. These findings also reveal an unfavorable sociocultural representation of both Indonesian and French cultures, as 17 aggregated item codes demonstrate the representations of Indonesians are deemed unacceptable within French culture’s framework, while ten aggregated item codes indicate the representations of the French are deemed unacceptable within the Indonesian culture’s context. This implies language and cognition, influenced by prior experiences and societal norms, shape socialinteractions and contribute to stereotype creation.

“Tag a person who loves candy” – sociocultural approach to unhealthy food marketing to adolescents in social media

Purpose This study aims to examine adolescents’ social media environment connected to unhealthy food marketing. As social media have become a ubiquitous part of young people’s everyday lives, marketers have also shifted their focus to these channels. Literature on this phenomenon is still scarce and often takes a quite narrow view of the role of marketing in social media. Furthermore, the experiences of the adolescents are seldom considered. Design/methodology/approach Using a sociocultural approach and netnographic methodology, this study presents findings from a research project conducted in Finland. The data consist of both social media material and focus group interviews with adolescents. Findings The findings elaborate on unhealthy food marketing to adolescents in social media from two perspectives: sociocultural representations of unhealthy foods in social media marketing and social media influencers connecting with adolescents. Originality/value The study broadens and deepens the current understanding of unhealthy food marketing to adolescents taking place in social media. The study introduces a novel perspective to the topic by looking at it as a sociocultural phenomenon.

Socio-cultural representation of epilepsy at the teaching hospital of point G, Mali

BackgroundEpilepsy is a significant public health concern with psychosocial impacts, including fear, stigma, and misconceptions. These factors contribute to human rights violations and discrimination. The objective of this study was to describe the sociocultural representation of epilepsy in Mali. Materials and methodsThis cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out from April 2015 to November 2016 at the University Hospital of Point G. Patients with epilepsy were identified prospectively, and a questionnaire was administered to each patient and their parents. ResultsA total of 104 patients were enrolled with an average age of 35 years, ranging from 15 to 89 years. Males were slightly predominant, accounting for 53.85%, resulting in a sex ratio (M/F) of 1.17. In terms of occupation, workers comprised 68.27% of participants. Patients residing in urban areas represented 61.54%, and the most level of education was secondary (40.38%). The majority of patients (57.69%) and their relatives (69.23%) thought that epilepsy was caused by mystical causes. Stigma was reported by 66.35% of our patients. ConclusionThe sociocultural perception of epilepsy hinders evidence-based diagnosis and management in Africa. This study suggests a need to focus on raising awareness to change these misconceptions.

‘No one would give me that job in Australia’: when professional identities intersect with how teachers look, speak, and where they come from

ABSTRACT This article investigates how non-native English-speaking teachers’ (NNESTs) professional identities can be affected by their employment experiences in Australia. Hermeneutic phenomenological narrative analyses of the written narratives of lived experiences of a group of NNESTs demonstrate how their professional identities were negatively affected by hiring discrimination, which also had psycho-emotional impacts on their professional selves. Socio-cultural representations of race, language, and other cultural attributes convergingly contributed to their unemployment despite meeting country-specific eligibility criteria to be English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers. The interplay between their professional identities and socio-cultural constructs took shape in modes of power relations enmeshed in the historic processes: economic, political, and cultural, which included discourses of native-speakerism, neo-racism, post-colonialism, neoliberalism, and multiculturalism. Despite these modalities, the NNESTs furthered their hybrid professional actions, recognising the value in the global community of multiple and diverse professional experiences.

Names of Genitals: Nominative Features and Their Functioning in Pornography Narrative

The paper deals with the classification of ways of designation genitals in Russian. The theoretical basis is represented by researches on meaning euphemization, the theory of conceptual metaphor and existing classifications of genital vocabulary. The aim of this study is search for classification grounds needed for the systematization of the studied group of words and the description of the lexical ways of designating the genitals in Russian. The material for the study was 120 fragments of pornographic texts containing an explicit description of the consensual and nonconsensual sexual interaction. Based on the lexical-semantic analysis, four ways of nominating the genitals were identified: orthophemistic, euphemistic, dysphemistic and metaphorical ways. Anatomical terms and lexemes of the bookish and colloquial styles were attributed to the orthophemistic way of nomination. The euphemistic way of nominating the genitals included lexemes and lexical combinations which semantically accentuate the sacred status of the genitals or contain reference to their structure, location, physiological features. Euphemization of the studied somatisms was also carried out through the mention of a piece of clothing that covers the genitals or of internal organs of the reproductive system (for female genitals). Lexical constructions in which the genitals were associated with their owner were also attributed to the euphemistic method. The dysphemistic method included lexemes and lexical combinations containing in their semantics indications of the inconsistency of the genitals with the bodily canon, diminutive and augmentative terms, and obscene lexical items. Fourteen metaphorical groups of nominations for male genitalia and fifteen groups of nominations for female genitalia were identified. Four feature concepts that are involved in the formation of the figurative representation of the genitals were found: (1) external similarity, (2) functional characteristics, (3) role in sexual interaction and sexual practices, (4) sociocultural representation.

Predictive factors for acceptance of a long-acting opiate substitution treatment studied through social representations and internalized stigma

Opioid use disorder is a public health problem worldwide with a treatment gap partially due to sociocultural representation and stigma. Taking the opportunity of an authorization to a subcutaneous (SC) injectable solution of buprenorphine, the first and only injectable treatment for opioid dependence available in France, we investigate potential obstacles to its implementation in France. This study aimed to define the factors predicting the acceptance of a new SC form of opiate substitution treatment (OST) by comparing the social representations using an adapted version of the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC) and the internalized stigma of intravenous drug injection using the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Inventory (ISMI) between participants receiving OST likely to accept the SC form or not. We also observed whether the fear of an opiate withdrawal syndrome could influence this choice. Fifty OST patients were included, 54% of them accepted a new SC form of OST. Perceived causes of drug injection measured with EMIC were significantly lower among participants who would not accept the new SC form. No significant difference was found regarding the total score of the adapted ISMI or its items. The fear of opiate withdrawal syndrome did not seem to be statistically related to acceptance of a long-acting SC OST in either group. The most discriminating combination of factors in predicting patient acceptance of such treatment was related to the perceived causes of drug injection associated with a severe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th version (DSM-5) diagnosis, and a lower alcohol consumption. We observed significant differences in social representations but not in internalized stigma between the two groups. Moreover, the predictive factors linked to the acceptance of a new SC form of OST suggest a multifactorial combination of elements that will have to be tested in a larger and prospective study delivering long-acting high-dose buprenorphine.

Sociocultural representations of Tuvan youth with unconventional religiosity (sociological experience)

The article analyzes the results of the sociological study "How Tuva Lives" conducted in 2022 by the Department of Ethnodemographic, Religious, and Integration Processes of the Institute for Demographic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The article focuses on religious youth, followers of Buddhism. Among them, we identified typological groups of "practitioners" and "non-practitioners", which were selected according to indicators of religious self-identification; self-identification by confessional affiliation; interest in eastern, non-traditional religions and teachings; motivation of interest in these beliefs; and incorporation of the practices of these religions and teachings into life activities. Note that the "practitioners" group has all the indicators of non-traditional religiosity, while the "non-practitioners" group does not include the practice of non-traditional beliefs in their life activities. A comparative analysis of the typological groups in terms of the degree of impact of the worldview aspects of non-traditional religiosity on national, ethno-confessional and migration orientations and attitudes was conducted. The results of the sociological search recorded in both typological groups a high level of tolerance toward representatives of other ethnicities and religions. At the same time among the "practitioners" there are two times more positive attitude to marriages with representatives of other ethnicity and three times fewer respondents who have a negative attitude to marriages with a person of another religion. Due to the difficult socio-economic situation in the region, more than half of the young people in the groups studied plan to move to other regions and megacities. Among the "practitioners" almost a third do not plan to return after moving, in the group of "non-practitioners" such respondents are almost half as many. The motivation to move in the typological group "practitioners" is more related to social and domestic orientations (improving housing conditions, getting better education and medical services, the opportunity to travel), and the group "non-practitioners" - to socio-professional difficulties (finding work in the specialty, increasing wages, career growth).

“Domestic Feminism”: The Politics of Reproduction and Motherhood in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale

Popularized by Hulu’s television adaptation, the allegories and iconography of The Handmaid’s Tale have been used in women’s reproductive rights activism around the world. However, at the same time, the series has been recognized and critiqued as offering white, conservative feminism. This article explores how Hulu’s adaptation often works to domesticate Margaret Atwood’s novel and the series’ feminist implications in regard to reproduction and motherhood. While The Handmaid’s Tale has become spectacularly visible as a popular feminist television series, its reproductive politics and representations of women, family and motherhood are largely conservative: waging a limited resistance on behalf of neotraditional white Anglo-western mothers. In light of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, this article is motivated by the conviction that it is increasingly important to hold sociocultural representations of reproduction and motherhood to account.

Qualitative determinants of wine demand: an exploratory analysis of two Sicilian wines “Catarratto” and “Nero d’Avola”

This article analyzed the socio-cultural representations associated with two Sicilian wines, Catarratto, and Nero d’Avola. The study was carried out in the area of western Sicily, where most of the wine growing is concentrated. In particular, for ‘Catarratto’, the research was conducted in the area of the Gulf of Castellammare in the province of Trapani, an area particularly suited to the cultivation of the ‘Catarratto’ vine from which the white wine is obtained; for ‘Nero d’Avola’, the research was conducted in the area of Menfi in the province of Agrigento, an area particularly suited to this black vine. Our objective was to determine how the players in the wine chain, and who indirectly deal with wine, construct their mental model relating to wine to suggest to companies the appropriate wine marketing actions to take to increase their competitive advantage. To achieve the objective of the research, ten focus groups consisting of wine consumers, teetotalers, wine opinion leaders, wine merchants, wine shop owners, medical doctors, and food experts were conducted. During the focus group, we gave these subjects a document in which they had to explain what wine evokes in them. The results of the research confirm that wine is a complex food product whose consumption evokes sensations, memories, and pleasures. The study provides an important source of knowledge on the current cultural significance of wine and its consumption in these two areas of Sicily. Therefore, the study highlighted the quality of these two Sicilian wines can guarantee competitiveness at the company and sector levels.

Food culture in Oonya Kempadoo’s All Decent Animals and Buxton Spice

The role of food culture in the construction of collective identity remains indispensable, considering that it results from consistent and prolonged practice by the given population. In the particular case of postcolonial literature, cultural markers such as food, clothing, rituals etc., act as powerful tools of sociocultural representation. In All Decent Animals (2013) and Buxton Spice (1998), Oonya Kempadoo posits the characters as the embodiments of various levels of association with the traditional culinary practices thereby showing their differential sense of cultural rootedness against the multicultural milieu of the novels’ settings. The study aims to extract such instances from the novels that show the impact of food culture in the creation of a common memory, hearkening back to the shared history of the characters. The authors concluded, that something as mundane as food occupies a pivotal role in co-navigating the characters’ journey from self-doubt to self-acceptance. The effect of food culture in eliciting an inclination towards one’s ethnic roots is considered, while also touching upon the matter of developing a sense of cultural, familial and individual identity by means of foodways.

Mother Cow and Maternal Behaviour in Colonial North India

This article offers a historical analysis of the interdisciplinary question to what extent animal behaviour influences domestication, by exploring how socio-cultural representations of cows as mothers were shaped by perceptions of their maternal behaviours. It does so by providing an analysis of the evolution of dairying practices in both the colonial and vernacular sciences of modern India. Mother cow ( gau måtå) was imbibed with spiritual and material significance in the discourses of public health, food security and gastro-politics from the late nineteenth century. But to what extent were cultural representations influenced by the maternal behaviours of the cow? Analysing animal husbandry practices, it is shown here that in contrast to the Western tradition of segregating the mother from her calf, the maternal behaviours and emotions of Bos indicus zebu cows were perceived by many dairy farmers to be an evolved characteristic that needed to be nurtured.

Gendering in Music: An Autoethnographic-Phenomenological Tale

Gendering in music in my autoethnographic-phenomenological tale is drawn heavily from my personal experiences highlighting music composition and performance, deciphering gender norms through musical utterances illuminated in my mother’s lullabies and my grandmother’s lamentations as musical rhetoric. While the foregoing forms part of my creative space, reflexivity borders the self as located within cultural praxis. Result of the study reveals that vignettes of my musical journey create socio-cultural representations rooted with phenomenological nuances that are magnified through entrainment and association, forming ideological patterns articulated through uniform and regular rhythmic pulse, for instance, as mirrored in the narratives of people’s common ideologies and struggles for emancipation that are illuminated in melodic kundiman songs, depicting gendering in music as a social-construct viewed from the lens of critical discourse. In conclusion, this tale foregrounds self-culture relationship and understanding where patterns of meanings utter gendered norms in musical tales affecting thoughts, emotions, and forming socio-cultural resonances and representations.

Socio-Cultural Representations and Therapeutic Itineraries of Parents of Autistic Children Followed in the INSP’s Children’s Mental Health Services

Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) remain little known to populations in developing countries. In black Africa their social representations remain strongly influenced by local belief systems. The general objective of this study was to understand the perceptions and representations of Ivorian parents vis-à-vis PDD. This was a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) prospective cross-sectional study with a descriptive aim that involved a sample of 49 parents. The sampling was of the qualitative type by multiple cases with reasoned choice by saturation. Our results showed that male parents were mostly aged between 40 - 49 years (48.98%) with a higher level of education (67.34%) while mothers were mostly aged between 30 - 39 (61.22%) and a higher level (30.61%). Autistic children were negatively perceived by their parents: either as a source of psychological suffering (82.85%), or as mysterious children who sacrificed their parents (44.66%), or as “bobo” children (mute children in common Ivorian language) (16.66%) or like rude children (13.34%). The supposed origin of the disorder according to the parents was mystical-religious (60.94%); natural (25%); hereditary (6.25%). In 6.25% of cases, PDD were assumed to be of unknown or iatrogenic origin attributable to vaccination (1.56%). 75.51% of parents said that in addition to conventional medical therapies, they also used traditional therapies. The use of this therapeutic alternative would be linked to the perceptions and beliefs that feed the socio-cultural representations of our respondents.

Multiple identities: Young Bedouin professionals challenging their socio-cultural Representations

ABSTRACT The desire of a minority group to integrate into society on equal terms with the majority is often expressed through the first-generation university degree holders of children sent by their parents to the schools of the majority group. The present study describes the multi-identities of Bedouin men and women who studied in the majority education system, a Jewish public school with Hebrew as its language of instruction with a different ethnic, religion, political, and cultural milieu. From the perspective of the theory of social representations, the findings point to a variety of strategies that Bedouin students have utilized in refusing to perform stereotypically minority identities. They force us to reframe their identities showing that they are capable of adopting emancipated representations to create a space in accord with the changing nature of Bedouin society. From their retrospective view, we learned that men built a space that combines representations of what we call “both worlds” while women found themselves managing multiple identities, conflict between roles, social relationship and life stages. The contribution of the research lies in the in-depth understanding of the interpersonal processes associated with social experiences of minority students in their own land (not immigrants), showing how they develop, adopt, and retain multiple identities, straddling social borders.

Cultural representations of pregnancy in a pandemic context

The Covid-19 health crisis has raised many questions about pregnancy care, the experience of confinement measures, and the increase in inequalities in access to care according to migratory status. The situation of a young French-Malian mother raises questions about the experience of motherhood in this particular pandemic context. Inparticular, questions are raised about the socio-cultural representations of care and illness.

Politics of epistemology in postcolonial Africa: The Islamisation of knowledge in the Sudan

ABSTRACT This article discusses the Islamisation of knowledge policy that the Islamist regime in the Sudan undertook between 1989 and 2019. It investigates the inner workings of this policy, its epistemic orientations, methodologies, and practices to understand the relationship between religion, education, and politics. The article argues that the Islamisation of knowledge project is comprised of a set of ideas, epistemic theories, and empirical programmes that aim to ‘liberate’ Muslims from coloniality and rebuild their minds in accordance with an Islamic epistemology. It uncovers how Islamisation of knowledge protagonists portray their epistemology in their intellectual forums and academia. How are the ideas, theories, and educational programmes associated with this form of knowledge implemented through academic institutions? The article addresses analytical conceptions such as Islamic thought and scrutinizes the doctrine, epistemic orientation, and socio-cultural representations imposed on students by Islamisation of knowledge proponents through education policy and curricular programmes. What is Islamic in their educational philosophies and practices? What conceptions of Islamisation underpin this epistemic discourse and practices in academic institutions in the Sudan? At what points do Islam and education ontologically converge and diverge? How do they accommodate one another? The article delves into a detailed ethnography that answers these questions.

Confucius the untouchable: on the semiotics of historization

Abstract The present paper focuses on the semiotics of historization, that is, of “narration as history” and provides a meta-analysis of the semiotic modeling of Confucius as a case in point. I argue that the personage who has come to be known as Confucius has existed and can only exist, without exception, in multiple forms of sociocultural representation and interpretation that are natural results of distinct modeling processes. These forms compose the immediate realities of Confucius for us and the very foundation upon which any further discussions about Confucius, his disciples, and their thoughts and lives are even possible in the first place. This treatment reminds us of how easily we can fall victim to the objective illusion and the confusion of understanding and axiology that Mieke Bal has rightly cautioned against. Moreover, the paper is by no means intended to be a revisionist or nihilistic denial of the historicity of Confucius, but rather an attempt to underscore the central and fundamental role that modeling systems about historical figures play in historization as human sociocultural and cognitive practice. In this sense, the case of Confucius serves as an instance, a specimen, a sign, which is extensible to any other historical figures.