Social Performance: Symbolic Action, Cultural Pragmatics, and Ritual

393 Pages·2006·4.33 MB·English

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Social Performance
Thispathbreakingvolumemakesapowerfulcaseforanew
directioninculturalsociologyandforsocialscientificanal-
ysismoregenerally.Takinga“culturalpragmatic”approach
to meaning, the contributors suggest a new way of looking
at the continuum that stretches between ritual and strategic
action.Theydosobydeveloping,forthefirsttime,amodel
of“socialperformance”thatappliesnotonlytomicro-butto
macro-sociology.Thisnewmodelisrelevantnotonlytocon-
temporaryanalysisbuttocomparativeandhistoricalissues,
and it is as sensitive to power as it is to cultural structures.
Themetaphorofperformancehaslongbeenusedbysociol-
ogists and humanists to explore not only the social world
but literary texts, but this volume offers the first system-
aticandanalyticalframeworkthattransformsthemetaphor
into a social theory and applies it to a series of fascinating
large-scalesocialandculturalprocesses–fromSeptember11
andtheClinton/LewinskyAffair,totheSouthAfricanTruth
andReconciliationCommissionandWillyBrandt’sfamous
“kneefall”beforetheWarsawMemorial.Buildingonworks
byAustinandDerridaontheoneside,andDurkheim,Goff-
man and Turner on the other, Social Performance offers a
newperspectivethatwillbeofgreatinteresttoscholarsand
studentsalikeinthesocialsciences,humanities,andtheatre
arts.
jeffrey c. alexander istheLillianChavensonSaden
Professor of Sociology and also Chair of the Sociology
Department at Yale University. He is the author of The
MeaningsofSocialLife:ACulturalSociology(2003),Cul-
turalTraumaandCollectiveIdentity(withEyerman,Giesen,
Smelser,andSztompka)(2004),andtheeditor(withPhilip
Smith)ofTheCambridgeCompaniontoDurkheim(2005).
bernhard giesen holds the chair for macro-sociology
in the Department of History and Sociology at the Univer-
sity of Konstanz (Germany) and is a Visiting Professor in
theDepartmentofSociologyatYaleUniversity.Amongthe
more than twenty books he has written and edited are The
IntellectualsandtheNation:CollectiveIdentityinaGerman
Axial Age (Cambridge 1998) and Triumph and Trauma
(2004).
jason l. mastisaDoctoralCandidateinSociologyatthe
UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles,andaVisitingFellow
atYaleUniversity’sDepartmentofSociologyanditsCenter
forCulturalSociology.
CambridgeCulturalSocialStudies
Serieseditors:jeffrey c. alexander,Departmentof
Sociology,YaleUniversity,andsteven seidman,Departmentof
Sociology,UniversityofAlbany,StateUniversityofNewYork.
Titlesintheseries
arne johan vetlesen,EvilandHumanAgency
roger friedland and john mohr,MattersofCulture
davina cooper,ChallengingDiversity,RethinkingEqualityand
theValueofDifference
krishan kumar,TheMakingofEnglishNationalIdentity
ron eyerman,CulturalTrauma
stephen m. engel,TheUnfinishedRevolution
miche`le lamont and laurent the´venot,Rethinking
ComparativeCulturalSociology
ron lembo,ThinkingthroughTelevision
ali mirsepassi,IntellectualDiscourseandthePoliticsof
Modernization
ronald n. jacobs,Race,Media,andtheCrisisofCivilSociety
robin wagner-pacifici,TheorizingtheStandoff
kevin mcdonald,StrugglesforSubjectivity
s. n. eisenstadt,Fundamentalism,Sectarianism,and
Revolution
piotr sztompka,Trust
simon j. charlesworth,APhenomenologyofWorking-Class
Experience
luc boltanski,Translatedbygraham d. burchell,
DistantSuffering
mariam fraser,IdentitywithoutSelfhood
(listcontinuesatendofbook)

Social Performance
Symbolic Action, Cultural Pragmatics,
and Ritual
edited by
JeffreyC.Alexander
BernhardGiesen
JasonL.Mast
cambridge university press
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,SãoPaulo
Cambridge University Press
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PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521857956
©CambridgeUniversityPress2006
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Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006
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Lifeitselfisadramaticallyenactedthing.
ErvingGoffman