Humanities and Social Sciences

Kultura i Społeczeństwo

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Kultura i Społeczeństwo | 2019 | No 3

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Abstract

One of the most powerful ways in which we can globalize knowledge, and sociology, is to figure ways in which leading intellectual figures within insufficiently articulated knowledge cultures might inform readings of the other’s work. With the recent revivals of Antonina Kłoskowska and W.E.B. Du Bois in Polish and US sociology respectively, it is a propitious time to figure the ways in which their scholarship aligns, contrasts, and can mutually transform. In particular, the two are both concerned for how marginalized communities with their associated subjectivities engage dominant cultures, but Kłoskowska works within a national/regional frame and Du Bois a global and racial one. Too, Du Bois theorizes from within that marginalized community, with political pointedness, not from outside it or with any attempt to refrain from value judgements. Finally, while Du Bois blends Marxist accounts with a culturally rich account of Blackness and its others, Kłoskowska offers a more semiotic and intersubjective hermeneutic view of how various fusions of horizons might also create a more open world. Those who extend Kłoskowska’s tradition exemplify that very potential while Du Bois, in his very conditions of existence, made racism’s hardest shell manifest. Figuring exemplars of national and racial leadership might, however, invite powerful figurations of the future, but only when their cultural and political constitutions are made explicit.

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Authors and Affiliations

Michael D. Kennedy
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Abstract

This article examines the contribution of the Tartu-Moscow School of Semiotics to semiotic studies of history, with the main focus on the work of Yuri Lotman and Boris Uspensky.

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Bogusław Żyłko
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Abstract

In this text the author reflects on the semiotic existence of culture discourses in connection with the rapid development of digital technology. The author analyzes selected texts of digital art as examples of the transformation in how works of literature, sculpture, or film exist. The article covers how movable font, which changes in shape and color, participates in shaping literary meanings; the creation of semiotic and interactive figures; the textualization of the user’s actions and body; dematerialization; processuality; narrativization; the temporalizing of sculpture which changes before the eyes of the recipient; the presence of alternative narratives in literature and film; multi-variant plots co-created by the recipient; and the artistic use of other discourses. The author proves that the structure and specificity of the digital sign lies at the base of the changes. The digital sign is immaterial, programmable, and hybrid, and combines aspects of expression, meaning, and action, which makes it efficient.

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Ewa Szczęsna
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Abstract

This article presents examples of the relationship between culture, dance, and the body in the fields of communication (with oneself, the community, God/deity), the social hierarchy, social values, relations between the individual and the group, and relations between genders, from the perspective of the sociology of the dance. The sociological perspective also indicates the various historical, ritual, control, and regulatory roles that traditional and modern dances play in the communities in which they arise and are performed. The second part of the text contains a case study of the Japanese ankoku butoh dance. The author presents the philosophical roots of the dance (e.g., Japanese mythology, Zen Buddhist philosophy) and the creator’s personal experiences (childhood trauma and post-war social situation) as factors that influenced the dance’s development. The example of ankoku butoh illustrates the interrelation between cultural meanings and dance movements.

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Dominika Byczkowska-Owczarek
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Abstract

For several decades of the last century, semiotic arrangements enriched the sociology of culture. The aim of the article is to show the achievements of the empirical school of sociology of culture in the perspective of the significant semiotic issues on the example of selectively selected works of the eminent scientist Antonina Kłoskowska and the “Łódź school” which she created. Thanks to Antonina Kłoskowska, the empirical way of the “Łódź school” sociology of culture led from literature reception research to visual arts research. Her students made a significant contribution to Polish sociology of art, sociology of literature, sociology of film, sociology of theater, and visual sociology. The text attempts to sketch semiotic theoretical inspirations, a characteristic theoretical and methodological approach to the study of symbolic culture. The problems of research on the reception of works were described in the context of selected studies on film reception. The starting point was the empirical research of Antonina Kłoskowska regarding the reception of the screening of the Wedding (dir. A. Wajda, 1973).

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Ewelina Wejbert-Wąsiewicz
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Abstract

Although currently pole dancing is growing in popularity due to its sport dimension, it seems that such a form of expression is still commonly associated with strip clubs and connotes above all the erotic performance of a woman in front of a male audience. And yet, as one can find by frequenting dance studios that teach pole dancing, it is practiced not only by women, but also by men and children. Thus keeping in mind the ambiguity that arises at the intersection of competing optics in decoding the pole dance—with regard to “perpetuate interpretation logic” and the everyday experience of people undertaking the activity—the aim of this paper is to reflect on the issue of constructing and interpreting the meanings of actions and processes within the context of pole dancing. These processes can be seen as a reflection of the everyday life in which they occur.

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Magdalena Wojciechowska
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Abstract

One of the key issues in contemporary urban studies is to consider the city from the perspective of culture and consumption, which are treated as new drivers of urban development and economic prosperity, the essence of urban ways of life, and arenas for the implementation of urban policies. In a consumer society, cities become important nodes where collective and individual consumption takes place on a massive scale. The urban system organizes capabilities and provides the resources for consumption, thus facilitating various kinds of lifestyles. As a result, the urban space operates as an arena of competition, where different consumer orientations and social categories strive physically and symbolically to occupy ground, produce meanings, and create belonging in the spaces and places that constitute the city. In applying Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of a “social field,” the aim of the article is to show how the space of social positions corresponds to the space of cultural practices. Drawing on the study of cultural and leisure activities in Wrocław, four general categories of urban residents are revealed and characterized by their distinct positions in different dimensions of the social space. The analysis also points to social capital (social networks) as an efficient new principle of cultural differentiation. The paper closes with the author’s concluding remarks and guidelines for further research.

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Michał Cebula
ORCID: ORCID
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Abstract

The author of the article proposes a relational analysis of literary culture. Relational research treats the newest model of literary production as a set of complex relations between the author and his or her image, the text, economics, marketing, criticism by the work’s audience, the media, the technological framework, and so forth. These relations provide the sphere of possibilities for literature and its agents. Increasingly intricate relations are drawing the fields of literature, the media, and economics nearer to each other; these fields are becoming more accessible in order to facilitate the exchange of various kinds of capital and to create conditions for the development of literary fame and author brands. The relational concept of literary culture provides a better tool for the analysis of the contemporary phenomenon of writer-celebrities, which is key to understanding the functioning of the entire field of literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

Dominik Antonik
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Abstract

The author refers to Roland Barthes’s early concept of mythology in analyzing the films of Jerzy Kawalerowicz, one of the most outstanding Polish directors of the twentieth century. He interprets three of Kawalerowicz’s films, Pociąg [Night Train], Matka Joanna od Aniołów [Mother Joan of the Angels] and Faraon [Pharoah], which are read in the mythological register and in the political context. First the statements of the director in regard to each film are presented, then the judgments of film critics are provided, and finally the author gives his own interpretation. Night Train is shown as a film addressing the wrongs of the Stalinist era, and the problem of a totalitarian state. Mother Joanne of the Angels questions the sense of ideology in a totalitarian world, and is partially the director’s search for political identity, while Pharoah is a look at the post-October reformers and the reasons for their failure. Pharoah also provides a new vision of the state.

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Mateusz Nieć
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Abstract

In the article, the authors propose a typology of political knowledge from online learning activities and test its validity in an empirical qualitative study. The essence of their proposal is that meaningful study of the process of acquiring knowledge (rational analysis of factors modifying attitudes) must take into account both the perspective of the citizen (the demand for information) and an analysis of the publicly available knowledge (the supply of information). The authors distinguish three main methods of acquiring information: heuristic, reflective, and by-product learning. They note the importance of generational factors in shaping the cognitive activity of Internet users. There has been a gradual increase in the importance of source management, with simultaneous alienation and skepticism towards information obtained on the Internet. While the authors’ analysis is restricted to the Internet, their approach is not reductionist in that they consider the internet to be a medium for traditional media and its influence on civic attitudes.

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Authors and Affiliations

Michał Wenzel
Maciej Kryszczuk
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Abstract

In analyzing selected aspects of the debate over offending religious feelings, the author discusses Saby Mahmood’s argument that religiousness in public discourses of the Western world is basically perceived as a speculative phenomenon concerning the sphere of abstract beliefs. It is assumed therefore that the harm that can be produced by the publication of a blasphemous illustration is lesser and less palpable than in the case of hate speech directed toward a race or sexual orientation. The author’s analysis, which is undertaken from a Durkheim perspective, shows that, for example, the caricaturized presentation of a religious symbol constitutes not so much an act of undermining the abstract image as—in the affective perspective of the religious—an act violating the sense of ontological security of a given moral community which that symbol represents. At the same time, the Durkheim perspective facilitates an understanding of why religious symbolic resources can be ambivalently used in processes of legitimating social actions, beginning with constructive forms of civil public religions to extreme fundamentalist movements making use of violence and the discourses of political extremism.

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Rafał Smoczyński
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Abstract

This paper addresses issues of feminism, masculinity, and the emotional culture of middle-class men who self-declare as feminists. The author discusses feminist theories on masculinity and its relations with femininity, critical theories of masculinity, and the role of emotional culture in the expression of masculinity. Feminists have proposed a dimorphic definition of feminism as a political movement and personal attitude critical of masculine domination. The critique of patriarchal, hegemonic masculinity has led feminists either to identify with “positive” masculinity or to reject masculinity for a post-gender narrative or material-discursive fact of “being a man,” which suggests an inadequacy of the sex/gender distinction in the description of gender identity. The identification with feminism allows men to avoid the crisis of traditional masculinity and the perspective of gendered emotions, as well as to gain insight into gendered determinants of emotional expression.

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Paweł Bagiński
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Abstract

This essay contains reflections on the problems of discourse that appear in analyzing written historical sources. The author refers to Krzysztof Gajewski’s book, Reprezentacje komunizmu. PRL z perspektywy badań literackich i kulturowych [The Representation of Communism: The PPR from the Perspective of Literary and Cultural Studies] (2018). The primary findings concern the necessity of taking into account the linguistic framework of the given era.

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Authors and Affiliations

Marcin Kula
ORCID: ORCID
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Abstract

In reference to Anna Śliz’s book Wielokulturowość: stygmat współczesnego świata? Próba analizy socjologicznej [Multiculturalism: The Stigma of the Modern World? An Attempt at a Sociological Analysis], the subject of this article is multiculturalism as a phenomenon, a political project, and a real kind of existing society (multiculturalism is not the same as interculturalism or transculturalism). In the discourse on multiculturalism, many specific questions arise: the inevitability of the phenomenon and its genesis; the beginnings and bases of multiculturalism as a political project and its challenges; the reality of multicultural societies—from affirmation to contestation. Model discourse over multiculturalism is confronted with a range of remarks, commentaries, and questions about its fundamental significance, for example, about the potential for realizing the idea of multiculturalism in Europe, and whether Australia and Canada are now definitely multicultural societies.

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Authors and Affiliations

Zbigniew Kurcz

Instructions for authors

1. „Kultura i Społeczeństwo” zamieszcza wyłącznie materiały uprzednio nie publikowane. Zakładamy, że proponując tekst autor deklaruje tym samym, iż jest to jego oryginalna, samodzielna praca. W uzasadnionych przypadkach w przypisie powinny znaleźć się informacje o genezie tekstu (np. że jest to fragment pracy magisterskiej, doktorskiej czy opracowania grantowego) oraz o ewentualnych promotorach czy współpracownikach.
2. Wszystkie materiały są oceniane przez co najmniej dwóch recenzentów z zachowaniem zasady anonimowości (double-blind review). Dlatego prosimy o przekazywanie tekstownie podpisanych i załączanie w oddzielnej kopercie (oznaczonej tytułem artykułu) nazwiska autora, adresu, maila oraz telefonu kontaktowego. Autorów prosimy też o podanie miejsca pracy, stanowiska służbowego i tytułu naukowego oraz adresu do ewentualnej korespondencji z czytelnikami.
3. Teksty — o objętości maksimum 1,5 ark. wyd. — należy składać pod adresem redakcji w dwóch egzemplarzach, wydrukowane z podwójną interlinią(wraz z zapisem elektronicznym).
4. Tablice i wykresy należy załączać na oddzielnych stronach, a w tekście jedynie zaznaczać przeznaczone dla nich miejsca.
5. Bibliografię prosimy sporządzać (w porządku alfabetycznym) według zasad stosowanych w naszym czasopiśmie:
Nowak Stefan, 1979, System wartości społeczeństwa polskiego, „Studia Socjologiczne”, nr 4.
Szacki Jerzy (red.), 1995a, Sto lat socjologii polskiej. Od Supińskiego do Szczepańskiego, PWN, Warszawa.
Szacki Jerzy, 1995b, Wstęp: krótka historia socjologii polskiej, w: Jerzy Szacki (red.), Sto lat socjologii polskiej. Od Supińskiego do Szczepańskiego, PWN, Warszawa.
Weber Max, 2002, Gospodarka i społeczeństwo. Zarys socjologii rozumiejącej, tłum. Dorota Lachowska, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa.
Odniesienie w tekście ma wówczas postać (Weber 2002, s. 113).
Prosimy o niepodawanie adresów internetowych, dzięki którym dotarto do tekstów, lecz o umieszczanie w bibliografii opisu ich wersji pierwotnych.
6. W artykułach możliwe są oczywiście także przypisy treściowe (nie bibliograficzne), zamieszczone u dołu strony. W recenzjach preferujemy przypisy bibliograficzne w dołu strony, które mają wówczas postać:
J. Szacki, Historia myśli socjologicznej, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2002, s. 113.
J. Szacki, Historia myśli socjologicznej, cyt. wyd, s. 233. Tamże, s. 255.
7. Tych, którzy kierują swoją pracę do działów „Artykuły i rozprawy” i „Z warsztatów badawczych”, prosimy o dostarczenie jej streszczenia w języku polskim — ewentualnie także angielskim — (o objętości nie przekraczającej1000 znaków, liczonych ze spacjami) oraz o wyznaczenie słów kluczowych w obu językach.

Reviewers

RECENZENCI W 2021 ROKU

Monika Adamczyk, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski
Janusz Barański, Uniwersytet Jagielloński
Piotr Binder, Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii PAN
Tadeusz Borutka, Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II
Anita Brzozowska, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Marta Bucholc, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Michał Buchowski, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza
Mariusz Czubaj, Uniwersytet SWPS
Wioleta Danilewicz, Uniersytet w Białymstoku
Marcin Dębnicki, Uniwersytet Wrocławski
Rafał Drozdowski, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza
Danuta Duch-Krzystoszek, Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej im. Marii Grzegorzewskiej
Tomasz Ferenc, Uniwersytet Łódzki
Mirosław Filiciak, Uniwersytet SWPS
Piotr Filipkowski, Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii PAN
Monika Frąckowiak-Sochańska, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza
Jacek Gądecki, Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza w Krakowie
Małgorzata Głowacka-Grajper, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Marek Gorzko, Akademia Pomorska w Słupsku
Małgorzata Jacyno, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Krzysztof Jasiecki, Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii PAN
Katarzyna Kajdanek, Uniwersytet Wrocławski
Katarzyna Kalinowska, Instytut Badań Edukacyjnych
Jerzy Kałążny, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza
Antoni Z. Kamiński, Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
Tomasz Kaźmierczak, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Kaja Kaźmierska, Uniwersytet Łódzki
Przemysław Kisiel, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie
Jerzy Kochanowski, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Joanna Konieczna-Sałamatin, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Maciej Kowalewski, Uniwersytet Szczeciński
Wiesława Kozek, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Natalia Krzyżanowska, Örebro University
Paweł Kubicki, Uniwersytet Jagielloński
Wiktoria Kudela-Świątek, Uniwersytet Pedagogoczny im. KEN w Krakowie
Waldemar Kuligowski, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza
Anna Kwaśniewska, Uniwersytet Gdański
Marta Leśniakowska, Instytut Sztuki PAN
Wojciech Łukowski, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Mirosława Marody, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Piotr Mitzner, Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego
Andrzej Moskwin, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Dorota Mroczkowska, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza
Adam Mrozowicki, Uniwersytet Wrocławski
Janusz Mucha, emeritus
Natalia Niedźwiecka-Iwańczak, Uniwersytet Wrocławski
Lech M. Nijakowski, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Przemysław Nosal, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza
Cezary Obracht-Prondzyński, Uniwersytet Gdański
Krzysztof Pietrowicz, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza
Jakub Potulski, Uniwersytet Gdański
Ryszard Radzik, Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej im. Marii Grzegorzewskiej
Dorota Rancew-Sikora, Uniwersytet Gdański
Jerzy Rohoziński, Ośrodek Badań nad Totalitaryzmami Instytutu Pileckiego
Maja Sawicka, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Krystyna Skarżyńska, Uniwersytet SWPS
Marta Songin-Mokrzan, Uniwersytet Łódzki
Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska, Uniwersytet SWPS
Beata Szluz, Uniwersytet Rzeszowski
Magdalena Ślusarczyk, Uniwersytet Jagielloński
Wojciech Świątkiewicz, Uniwersytet Śląski
Piotr Toczyski, Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej im. Marii Grzegorzewskiej
Arkadiusz Tuziak, Uniwersytet Rzeszowski
Andrzej Waśkiewicz, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Ewelina Wejbert-Wąsiewicz, Uniwersytet Łódzki
Piotr Witek, Uniwersytet im. Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej
Cezary Włodarczyk, Uniwersytet Jagielloński
Anna Wylegała, Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii PAN
Katarzyna M. Wyrzykowska, Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii PAN
Tomasz Zarycki, Uniwersytet Warszawski
Anna Ziembińska-Witek, Uniwersytet im. Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej
Magdalena Zowczak, Uniwersytet Warszawski

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