Cultural Turns: New Orientations in the Study of Culture

312 Pages·2016·1.009 MB·English

by  Doris Bachmann-Medick

Doris Bachmann-Medick
Cultural Turns
Also of Interest
The Trans/National Study of Culture: A Translational Perspective
Doris Bachmann-Medick (Ed.), 2016
ISBN 978-3-11-045469-7
Doris Bachmann-Medick
Cultural Turns
New Orientations in the Study of Culture
Translated by
Adam Blauhut
ISBN 978-3-11-040297-1
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-040298-8
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-040307-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress.
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
First published in German under the title Cultural Turns. Neuorientierungen in den Kulturwissen­
schaften. © 2015 by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg
Cover image: Mr. n, © koncept.Inc (koncept.com/mr-n)
Printing: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
♾ Printed on acid-free paper
Printed in Germany
www.degruyter.com
Acknowledgements
The contemporary fields of the study of culture, the humanities and the social
sciences are unfolding in a dynamic constellation of cultural turns. This book
provides a comprehensive overview of these theoretically and methodologi-
cally groundbreaking reorientations. It is the English translation of an influen-
tial German book that has been completely revised. The translation process has
been unusually complex as it has involved translation not only between different
theoretical cultures but also between different versions of the study of culture
– between the German language Kulturwissenschaften and Anglophone cultural
studies. As part of this complex process, the German text first needed to be rewrit-
ten by “translating” its reflections and findings into a different (Anglo-American)
discourse. Only then could the linguistic translation work begin. The result is
what I hope is a stimulating example of a cross-cultural translation between dif-
ferent theoretical cultures and systems of knowledge. It presents the first com-
prehensive and critical synthesis of cultural turns in the English-speaking world.
This highly complex project of translation(s) could not have been realized
without cooperation and help from several sides. In the first place I would like
to express my warmest gratitude and thanks to my translator, Adam Blauhut, for
his highly sensitive and perceptive translation work, as well as for his dedication
and cooperation. I am extremely grateful to the Karlshochschule International
University in Karlsruhe – and especially to Michael Zerr and Stephan Sonnen-
burg – for generously funding the translation of this book. I also owe a debt of
gratitude to the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC),
Ansgar Nünning and my colleagues at Gießen University for providing me with a
daily base and the freedom to consider and discuss questions related to the study
of culture. Finally, I would like to express my thanks to the staff of the De Gruyter
publishing house, especially to Manuela Gerlof for her willingness to publish this
book and Stella Diedrich for her editorial assistance. My greatest thanks goes to
Hans Medick, who not only provided inspiration and support for this edition, as
for the German forerunner, but also enriched the extremely complex translation
process with his stimulating ideas and valuable input.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements   V
Introduction: Cultural Turns – New Orientations in the Study of Culture   1
1 Mapping the Study of Culture – German and Anglo-American
Discourses   1
The “Field” of the Study of Culture   7
The Transformation of Theory – A Paradigm Shift?   9
Refiguration through “Blurred Genres”   12
New Orientations through “Heightened Scholarly Awareness”?   14
Turns – A Shift from Object of Study to Analytical Category   16
2  Changing Currents of Theory – Changing Pioneering Disciplines   18
The Linguistic Turn   21
Cultural Turns after the Linguistic Turn   23
The Impact of the Turn Orientations on the Study of Culture   29
References   32
Chapter I: The Interpretive Turn   39
1  The Formation of the Interpretive Turn   40
2  The Meaning-Oriented Concept of Culture    44
Methodological Approaches: Synecdochic Mode, Contextualization,
Thick Description   45
3  The Metaphor of “Culture as Text”   48
Self-Interpretation   49
Critical Positions   51
4  The Interpretive Turn in Different Disciplines   55
5  The Interpretive Turn as “Cultural Critique”   64
References   67
Chapter II: The Performative Turn   73
1  The Formation of the Performative Turn   74
2  T he Anthropological Analysis of Ritual – An Impetus for the Performative
Turn   78
3  Liminality and Cultural Innovation   81
Ritual   81
Social Drama   84
4  The Performative Turn in Different Disciplines   86
5  Further Developments of the Performative Approach   93
References   96
VIII   Table of Contents
Chapter III: The Reflexive Turn/Literary Turn   103
1  The Formation of the Reflexive Turn   104
2  The Crisis of Representation   107
3  The Reflexive/Rhetorical/Literary Turn in Different Disciplines   114
4  Further Developments of the Reflexive Turn   121
References   126
Chapter IV: The Postcolonial Turn   131
1  The Formation of the Postcolonial Turn   132
2  Characteristics and Key Concepts of the Postcolonial Turn   137
Writing Back (Re-writing), Re-mapping and Critique
of the Canon   138
Hybridity   141
Third Space   146
Identity   148
3  The Postcolonial Turn in Different Disciplines   149
4  New Critical Impetus for the Postcolonial Turn   160
References   164
Chapter V: The Translational Turn   175
1  The Formation of the Translational Turn   176
2  The Cultural Turn in Translation Studies   178
3  The Concept of Culture – Culture as Translation   181
4  Translational Pragmatics – Translation as a Social and Cultural
Practice   185
5  Politics of Translation – Conflicts and Breaks in the Translation
Process   187
6  Epistemological and Methodological Dimensions of the Translational
Turn   189
7  The Translational Turn in Different Disciplines   192
References   203
Chapter VI: The Spatial Turn   211
1  The Formation of the Spatial Turn   212
2  Spatial Concepts and the Turn toward Spatial Thinking   216
Social Spaces and Imaginary Geographies   216
Transnational Spaces   219
Thirdspace   221
Spatial Representation and Modes of Mapping   222
3  Space as an Analytical Category   225
Table of Contents   IX
4  The Spatial Turn in Different Disciplines   227
References   237
Chapter VII: The Iconic Turn/Pictorial Turn   245
1  The Formation of the Iconic Turn/Pictorial Turn   246
2  From Art History to an Interdisciplinary Image Science? Positions of the
Iconic Turn   249
Art History or Historical Image Science?   250
Visual Media Science   252
Anthropology of Images   253
Interdisciplinary Image Science   255
Transcultural Image Studies   256
Visual Culture/Visual Studies   256
3  An Iconic Turn Instead of a Linguistic Turn – From Visual Knowledge to
an Iconic Epistemology?   259
4  The Iconic Turn/Pictorial Turn in Different Disciplines   262
References   272
Outlook: Are the Cultural Turns Leading to a Turn in the Humanities and Study
of Culture?   279
1  A Religious Turn versus Secular Criticism   281
2  Neurobiological Challenges – Approaches and Limits of a Neuroscientific
Turn   285
3  Digital and Transcultural Challenges – Approaches of a Digital and
a Global Turn   288
4  Conclusion   293
References   294
Index   299