Key Concepts for the Study of Culture

Vera Nünning, Philipp Löffler, Margit Peterfy

Key Concepts for the Study of Culture. An Introduction

ISBN 978-3-86821-877-0, 374 S., 66 Abb., kt., € 28,00 (2020)

(WVT-Handbücher zum literatur- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Studium, Bd. 22)

This book explores key concepts that students should become acquainted with at the beginning of their studies. Its main aim is to explain central terms and categories for the analysis of culture in a way that enables students to use them in their own research. The focus lies on concepts that can not only generate innovative research perspectives on a wide range of (sub)cultures but also provide insight into cultural practices and principles governing our daily forms of life. The key concepts include identity, performativity, intersectionality, globalization, cultural memory, the emotions and values, all of which we approach from a variety of perspectives, ranging from cultural anthropology and cultural psychology to philosophy, sociology and postcolonial theory. In addition, we introduce a few broader, vibrant fields such as material culture and visual culture studies. The discussion of examples taken from British and North American cultural history from the sixteenth century to the present should highlight the usefulness of the key concepts that will help students to find their feet and pursue their own inquiries in a highly promising field of study.

Buchvorschau / Inhaltsverzeichnis (pdf)

Pressestimme

"Key Concepts combines the functions of an introduction to cultural scholarship, a function that many chapters serve admirably well, with fundamental and highly debatable interventions concerning the established orientation of the field."

Zeno Ackermann, Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 259.1 (2022)