Symbolic Revolution Research Articles

The Artification of the Nude: A Symbolic Revolution in the Art Field of Republican China (1912–1937)

The Artification of the Nude: A Symbolic Revolution in the Art Field of Republican China (1912–1937)

Pierre Bourdieu vis-à-vis Martin Heidegger: the first ‘conservative revolution’

As a philosophy student in 1950s Paris, Pierre Bourdieu experienced a ‘certain fascination’ with the German phenomenologists, Husserl and Heidegger. He later went on in 1975 to write a lengthy article on The Political Ontology of Martin Heidegger, translated into English in 1991. Recently, notable Bourdieusian theorists have emphasised this Heideggerian contribution to Bourdieu’s thought, stressing its significance alongside the classical sociological theorists (Marx, Weber and Durkheim). They thus directly assert or imply its continued importance for the genesis of new social theory. The present article argues against this position and it does so in part by using Bourdieu’s own reflections on Heidegger. Like Theodor Adorno, this analysis rooted Heidegger’s thought in his social position as a lower-class outsider to the patrician German university system. Going beyond Adorno, however, Bourdieu stressed the crises of interwar Germany including the crisis within the country’s academia. Drawing attention to the interwar ‘conservative revolution’ of Carl Schmitt, Oswald Spengler, Erich Jünger, and Fritz Lang, amongst others, Bourdieu delineated Heidegger’s ‘alchemical transformation’ of this conservative current into ‘philosophical form’ to create a symbolic revolution. The article concludes by discussing later scholarship as well as the posthumous publication of Heidegger’s journal, The Black Notebooks. These newly-published sources reveal Heidegger’s coded but virulent antisemitism. In light of these, it is argued that Heideggerian ontology can be used neither for philosophy nor for social theory.

Sad Puppies and SJWs: Symbolic Revolution and Challenges to Field Orthodoxy in the Struggle for Control of Science Fiction’s Hugo Awards

ABSTRACT In 2013 a group of science fiction authors launched a campaign to reform the Hugos, one of science fiction’s most prestigious awards. Dubbing themselves “Sad Puppies,” these activists sought to correct what they viewed as a political imbalance. Science fiction, they argued, had moved away from entertaining story telling in favor of heavy-handed message fiction meant to spread pernicious liberal values. This article draws on an analysis of internet posts by actors involved in the movement to examine the Puppies’ efforts to reform the science fiction field, reclaiming it as a space for conservative authors and fans. I argue that the leaders of the movement were able to build small fan communities into a larger social movement by framing the movement in such a way as to link their efforts to exogenous political and cultural debates occurring in proximate social fields. This analysis demonstrates the processes by which tournament rituals in popular culture can come to serve as contests of values, arenas within which larger political and cultural conflicts are waged.

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Edouard Manet’s masterpiece, Olympia, is one of the most scandalous works in art history. Embraced as an “obscene painting” from the time of its creation in 1865, it continues to this day to perpetuate a tradition of interpretation based on obscene codes. Recently, however, the brilliant sociologist Bourdieu’s interpretation of Manet and his work through the lens of the Symbolic Revolution has opened up new avenues for interpretation. In agreement with Bourdieu’s original problem-solving, I argue that Manet’s work should be reinterpreted according to a symbolic code rather than an obscene code.
 From this perspective, the three objects in Olympia-the white prostitute, the black maid, and the black cat-are carefully selected symbols for Manet’s symbolic revolution. This article focuses on the modernity of Manet’s symbolic revolution, especially through the black cat. In the process, applying the cultural history of symbols research methodology, it reveals that Manet’s modern aesthetics, represented by the black cat, moved from Baudelaire’s modern poetics to Poe’s modern literature.
 In this sense, we can conclude that Manet’s black cat is a modern mirror that reflects the negative psychological state of depression, anxiety, and fear, which was hidden within the revolutionary modern society that proclaimed freedom, equality, and charity. In a word, Olympia’s black cat represents the Janus-faced nature of modernity.

Is there a model for symbolic revolution? Bourdieu’s theory in Manet and a comparison with a case study: the Generation of 1914 in Spain

The courses that Bourdieu dedicates to Manet help to better understand the link between cultural production, political position and social trajectory. Nevertheless, Bourdieu does not always fully clarify his position. In this article, first we will clarify what Bourdieu considers to be a model for symbolic revolutions. To do so, Manet's courses are revisited and their links with Bourdieu’s work in general and, more specifically, with his sociology of philosophy are made explicit. After that, we will examine Bourdieu's assertions about scholasticism or academicism in the sociology of culture, its importance in symbolic revolutions, and how his proposal encourages a specific view on the history of cultural productions, especially the philosophical ones. Then, Bourdieu's model of symbolic revolution will be tested by comparing it with a study with statistical treatment of data in a different and significant historical context: the Generation of ‘14 in Spain. Finally, we will propose some nuances and developments to Bourdieu's model based on the conclusions of that study.

The Heuristic Significance of Art Sociology

Art sociology may be simply seen as a specialised domain of sociological research. Yet the article suggests that it has also an overarching diagnostic significance to gain a better understanding of ongoing societal transformation trends. It analyses the classical contribution of Weber, Simmel and Bourdieu to the topic. Weber develops a causal-historical explanation for the development of occidental music. It becomes a key to the interpretation of the specific occidental form of rationalism beyond religion and economy. Simmel has a different approach. Art is for him one of the expressions of the modern times that he wants to describe to understand the transformation of the society in which he lives. The diagnostic function of art is at the centre of interest. Bourdieu, on his side, proposes a historical reconstruction for the development of the intellectual field in France during the 19th century. In this frame, art contributes to a symbolic revolution that establishes autonomous societal fields and promotes a qualitative differentiation of complex societies. Yet, Bourdieu’s researches on art have also a diagnostic potential. Building on the analytical heritage of the classics, the article inquiries into the loss of autonomy of the art field in the contemporary art market and contributes to the debate on the heuristic significance of art sociology.

G.W. Leibniz: From the “Symbolic Revolution” in Mathematics to the Concept of Suppositive Cognition

The transition from the exclusive use of words to the predominant use of symbols in mathematics continued for centuries, but by the seventeenth century it turned out to be explosive. This phenomenon became known as the “symbolic revolution” in mathematics. One of its main outcomes was the discovery of mathematical analysis almost simultaneously and independently by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. To both scientists their discovery served as the basis for far-reaching philosophical generalizations. For Leibniz, it led to the concept of suppositive cognition, the opposite of the prevailing notions at that time. He was the first to argue that the criterion of clarity and distinctness in cognition is impossible, because it relies on intuition about primary concepts, but these are in fact confuse and undistinct, and the foundation of such cognition is shaky. Using the successful use of symbols in mathematics as a model, Leibniz arrives at the concept of blind or symbolic cognition, cognitio caeca, which makes it possible to achieve validity and verifiability of results without reliance on intuition or primary concepts. The truthfulness of the result is found to depend more on grammar, which determines the substitution rules of some signs, or characters, for others, than on the connection between signs and the signified. Leibniz’s opening debate served as a prologue to the fundamental modernization of scientific discourse in the early Modern Time. Although he failed to achieve entirely his philosophical goals, the concept itself turned out to be extremely productive and modern, effectively decoupling the progress of natural science from its philosophical foundations. This innovative cognitive ideology opened up enormous prospects for the formation and accumulation of new knowledge, closed by the rigid requirements of the Cartesian paradigm of science still dominant in Leibniz’s time.

SCIENTIFIC LINGUISTICS, A NEVER-ENDING HISTORY

1866 was a turning point in scientific linguistics when the Linguistic Society of Paris banned all papers and presentations on the origin of language. De Saussure locked up the debate with two concepts, diachrony and synchrony. I intend to examine the emergence of the hypothesis of a single origin of human articulated languages, in Africa first, and then Black Africa. The phylogenic approach of biological studies has today spread to linguistics. Sally McBrearty rejected the idea of a Neolithic revolution. Consequently, Black Africa became a major field of archaeological research. Yuval Noah Harari stating the existence of a symbolic revolution around 70,000 years ago, rejected Black Africa along with the Americas, and the Denisovans. Asia has become a major archaeological field. Julien d’Huy implements phylogenetic arborescent technique to the study of myths. The oldest form of a myth is not the origin of it. In oral civlizations some literate individual had to tell the story behind representations for the people to understand, appreciate, and remember them. I will then consider structural linguistics (Noam Chomsky & Universal Grammar). UG has never been able to develop semantics within its own system (Generative Semantics & George Lakoff). Science is always a temporarily approximate vision of what it considers. First, what any science explores is constantly evolving following phylogenic dynamics that are contained in the very objects of such scientific studies. Second, any new knowledge appearing in the field concerned causes a complete restructuration of what we knew before.

Między Akademią a awangardą. Studium amerykańskiego pola sztuki przełomu XIX i XX wieku

Artykuł poświęcony jest rekonstrukcji charakteru amerykańskiego pola sztuki na przełomie XIX i XX wieku w perspektywie teorii Pierre’a Bourdieu. Dokonując interpretacji zgromadzonych w Stanach Zjednoczonych materiałów, przeprowadzono analizę pola sztuki przełomu wieków w USA. Wydarzenia tamtego okresu – emancypacja części artystów spod wpływu Akademii, założenie samodzielnych szkół artystycznych, powstanie niezależnych galerii, powołanie krytyki artystycznej, organizacja kolejnych wystaw amerykańskiej sztuki współczesnej, otwarcie Armory Show (1913), wreszcie zerwanie ze stylem akademickim – stanowiły pierwszą fazę autonomizacji pola sztuki w Stanach Zjednoczonych. W artykule omówiono proces konstytucji i pierwotnej emancypacji amerykańskiego pola sztuki, a równocześnie wskazano uczestników gry w świecie artystycznym; określono ich rolę i znaczenie; opisano ich wzajemne relacje i zależności; wyjaśniono, o jakiego typu profity toczyła się gra statusowa w polu. Z drugiej strony określono dynamikę zmienności charakteru tych elementów w sytuacji zmiany społecznej zachodzącej w USA. Ze względu na wielowymiarowy charakter transformacji w polu rozpatrzono ją także w kategoriach rewolucji symbolicznej.

Manet: A Symbolic Revolution and Classification Struggles: General Sociology, Volume 1 Lectures at the Collège de France

Manet: A Symbolic Revolution and Classification Struggles: General Sociology, Volume 1 Lectures at the College de France

Bourdieu’s Genetic Structuralism

Since the centenary of Edouard Manet’s death, there has been a restless interest in the artist’s work within the Anglophone institutional context. Essays, books, and a steady stream of large-scale retrospectives in renowned art museums have all contributed to a seemingly endless process of intellectual production – a ‘Manet Industry’ of sorts. Faced with the superabundance of Manet scholarship, one could be forgiven for asking whether we have had our fill of the painter, of whether anything new can be said about his work. Pierre Bourdieu’s recently translated Manet: A Symbolic Revolution shows that we are not only far from sating our hunger to learn more about Manet’s artistic practice, but that we have barely begun to properly ingest (let alone digest) its historical genesis and import. Divided into two parts – a lecture course at the Collège de France across the academic years of 1989–1999 and 1999–2000 and an unfinished book manuscript composed with Marie-Claire Bourdieu and titled Manet Heresiarch: Genesis of the Artistic and Critical Fields – Bourdieu’s book offers a remarkable contribution to Manet scholarship that will no doubt be a central point of reference for scholars interested in the painter and his legacy. While the unfinished manuscript offers useful crystallisations, it is on the lecture courses at the Collège that this review focuses.

Modern Human Origins and the Evolution of Behavior in the Later Pleistocene Record of South Asia

The archaeological record of Later Pleistocene South Asia has a crucial role to play in our understanding of the evolution of modern human behavior and the dispersal of anatomically modern humans around the Old World. Later Pleistocene records of South Asia are here summarized and placed in the context of the modernhumanorigins debate. Aspects of the South Asian record share familiar traits with other regions of the Old World, but South Asia also appears to have its own adaptive features and material culture developments. The fluctuating environment during the Later Pleistocene would have influenced the adaptations of anatomically modern and archaic humans, affecting population size, movement, and the usefulness of cultural innovations. On the basis of prevailing genetic, archaeological, and biogeographic information, it is hypothesized that Homo sapiens colonized South Asia as part of an early southern dispersal from Africa. The effect of demographic processes on the rate and direction of cultural change is proposed as an explanation for the lack of a symbolic revolution signaling the arrival of anatomically modern humans on the Indian subcontinent. Instead, the Late Paleolithic represents a diversification of adaptive behaviors that may be traced to the Middle Paleolithic.

Inception of agriculture and rearing in the Middle East

The significance accorded by various scholars to the inception of food production (agriculture and stock rearing) in the Middle East is discussed. It has generally been associated with the development of permanent village settlement, although it is now clear that sedentism preceded the domestication of plants and then of animals. The role of climatic change is considered, and the cultural sequence and its accompanying symbolic revolution are reviewed. The extent of early interaction throughout the Middle East, as documented by obsidian analysis is discussed. The new economy proved an expansive one, lying the foundations for the Neolithic Revolution in the Middle East, Egypt, northern India and Europe, and thus ultimately for the succeeding Urban Revolution. To cite this article: C. Renfrew, C. R. Palevol 5 (2006) .

Symbolic Revolutions and the Australian Archaeological Record

Australia was colonized by at least 40,000 bp and scientists agree that the continent was only ever occupied by anatomically and behaviourally modern humans. Australia thus offers an alternative early record for the archaeological expression of behavioural modernity. This review finds that the pattern of change in the Australian archaeological sequence bears remarkable similarity to the pattern from the Lower to Upper Palaeolithic in the Old World, a finding that is inconsistent with the ‘symbolic revolution’ model of the origin of modern behaviour. This highlights the need for archaeologists to rethink the implications of the various criteria and scales of analysis used to identify modern human behaviour.

The symbolic revolution: The Russian nobility and February 1917

This article examines the role of symbols and language in the Russian Revolution from the perspective of the former ruling class – the nobility. Nobles were more favourable to a political revolution than many historians have assumed, but they were opposed to social change, a key demand of the lower classes. The symbolic revolution not only forced the nobility to perceive the wider implications of February but also helped to exacerbate the social revolution, encouraging the polarisation of society that grew throughout 1917. This trend culminated in the October Revolution and the systematic persecution of perceived enemies by the Bolsheviks.

Modern Human Origins and the Evolution of Behavior in the Later Pleistocene Record of South Asia

The archaeological record of Later Pleistocene South Asia has a crucial role to play in our understanding of the evolution of modern human behavior and the dispersal of anatomically modern humans around the Old World. Later Pleistocene records of South Asia are here summarized and placed in the context of the modernhumanorigins debate. Aspects of the South Asian record share familiar traits with other regions of the Old World, but South Asia also appears to have its own adaptive features and material culture developments. The fluctuating environment during the Later Pleistocene would have influenced the adaptations of anatomically modern and archaic humans, affecting population size, movement, and the usefulness of cultural innovations. On the basis of prevailing genetic, archaeological, and biogeographic information, it is hypothesized that Homo sapiens colonized South Asia as part of an early southern dispersal from Africa. The effect of demographic processes on the rate and direction of cultural change is proposed as an explanation for the lack of a symbolic revolution signaling the arrival of anatomically modern humans on the Indian subcontinent. Instead, the Late Paleolithic represents a diversification of adaptive behaviors that may be traced to the Middle Paleolithic.

Archaeological Evidence for the Emergence of Language, Symbolism, and Music–An Alternative Multidisciplinary Perspective

In recent years, there has been a tendency to correlate the origin of modern culture and language with that of anatomically modern humans. Here we discuss this correlation in the light of results provided by our first hand analysis of ancient and recently discovered relevant archaeological and paleontological material from Africa and Europe. We focus in particular on the evolutionary significance of lithic and bone technology, the emergence of symbolism, Neandertal behavioral patterns, the identification of early mortuary practices, the anatomical evidence for the acquisition of language, the development of conscious symbolic storage, the emergence of musical traditions, and the archaeological evidence for the diversification of languages during the Upper Paleolithic. This critical reappraisal contradicts the hypothesis of a symbolic revolution coinciding with the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe some 40,000 years ago, but also highlights inconsistencies in the anatomically–culturally modern equation and the potential contribution of anatomically “pre-modern” human populations to the emergence of these abilities. No firm evidence of conscious symbolic storage and musical traditions are found before the Upper Paleolithic. However, the oldest known European objects that testify to these practices already show a high degree of complexity and geographic variability suggestive of possible earlier, and still unrecorded, phases of development.

What is a “cantautore?” Distinction and authorship in Italian (popular) music

The article presents a socio-historical analysis of the Italian canzone d'autore (literally “author's song”) as both a musical genre and an aesthetic category. The canzone d'autore is analyzed as the product of a constellation of musical, cultural, social, economic, and political factors that crystallized in the 1960s and 1970s—among them the identification of a new category of cultural producers, the cantautori, and the formation of a celebratory apparatus centered around a non-profit association, the Club Tenco—and thereby transformed the Italian “song world” (or better, an inclusive segment of it) into a semi-autonomous artistic field. This process, which may be conceptualized as a symbolic revolution, is mapped through the intersection of a set of discourses and practices—above all the specific public discourse about this genre, its authenticity, and artistry—by various producers of meanings, including the cantautori themselves, many of whom also belonged, for cultural capital and/or profession, to the intellectual (literary) field. Studying a local case of cultural production of a classification that relies on the social institution of the “author”, the paper addresses the problem of genres and of authorship in the world of popular music. In particular, Fabbri's renowned theory of musical genres is addressed.

Citoyens américains, encore un effort si vous voulez être républicains !

Yet another effort citizens of America, if you would become republicans! For 36 days a legitimate uncertainty hovered over the ballot count for the 2000 US presidential election. It was an opportunity to study, in almost laboratory conditions, the social mechanisms involved in forming a numerical abstraction. A temporary symbolic revolution was reconstituted, characterized by the social suspension of calculations, owing to the uncertain situation. During this time, the principal stake in the political struggle was the construction of the social time befitting the resolution of this uncertainty in a socially acceptable form. In the end, the only point of agreement was the judicial technology which would eventually lead to resolution of the conflict. The present study also casts doubt on the spontaneous political philosophy in force in a good many pieces of social science.

Marginalia: algumas notas adicionais sobre o dom

Prosseguindo a análise do dom, este artigo busca ultrapassar as visões fenomenológica, estruturalista e economicista do fenômeno. Para tanto, desloca o eixo de interrogação na direção do tempo e da incerteza ligados ao intervalo entre o dom e o contradom, do agente e da ação ligados às práticas, da economia de bens simbólicos e o habitus específico que a funda. Demonstrase assim, contra todo reducionismo (à consciência, ao cálculo inconsciente ou ao cálculo propriamente dito), que a razão do dom só pode repousar sobre sua dupla verdade, seu caráter generoso e obrigatório. Por outro lado, demonstrase também que foi somente através de uma revolução simbólica, e não o desenvolvimento de uma suposta natureza humana, que uma economia da troca pôde, historicamente, se destacar da economia do dom, cuja possibilidade continua aberta, dependendo apenas dos investimentos coletivos que sejam efetuados em sua direção.