Cultural Theory

This second edition of Cultural Theory provides a concise introduction to cultural theory, placing major figures, traditional concepts, and contemporary themes within a sharp conceptual framework. Provides a student-friendly introduction to what can often be a complex field of study Updates the first edition in response to reader feedback and to the changing nature of the field Includes additional coverage of theorists from the classical period to include Nietzsche and DuBois Introduces entirely new chapters on race and gender theory, and the body Considers themes that have become more important in theoretical activity in recent years such as computers and virtual reality, cosmopolitanism, and performance theory Draws on theories and theorists from continental Europe as well as the English-speaking world

Preface to the First Edition: About this Book vi Preface to the Second Edition ix Acknowledgments x Introduction: What is Culture? What is Cultural Theory? 1 1 Culture in Classical Social Theory 6 2 Culture and Social Integration in the Work of Talcott Parsons 26 3 Culture as Ideology in Western Marxism 34 4 Culture as Action in Symbolic Interactionism, Phenomenology, and Ethnomethodology 54 5 The Durkheimians: Ritual, Classification, and the Sacred 69 6 Structuralism and the Semiotic Analysis of Culture 92 7 The Poststructural Turn 111 8 Culture, Structure, and Agency: Three Attempts at Synthesis 128 9 British Cultural Studies 144 10 The Production and Reception of Culture 158 11 Culture as Text: Narrative and Hermeneutics 176 12 Psychoanalytic Approaches to Culture and the Self 195 13 The Cultural Analysis of Postmodernism and Postmodernity 207 14 Postmodern and Poststructural Critical Theory 228 15 Cultural Theories of Race and Gender 241 16 The Body in Cultural Theory 262 References 280 Index 296