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Culture and Symbolism The Example of banter Perspectives on Culture performance variable; root metaphor; medium of domination Relevance for Labour Process Analysis culture as medium of work relations and organization Concerted control (James Barker, The Discipline of Teamwork
Culture and Symbolism
Symbolism – a feature of culture to which highly saturated meaning is ascribed e.g. the cowboy in the Malborough advert who suggests manhood, health, hero, self-reliant, macho (Nice Work, p. 223-4)
`Banter’
Significance for reproduction/transformation of Identity Inequality Power Insecurity
Banter in Remains of the Day
Extract(s) from The Remains of the Day
`It is quite possible, then, that my employer fully expects me to respond to his bantering in a like manner, and considers my failure to do so a form of negligence… this business of bantering is not a duty I feel I can ever discharge with enthusiasm… One need hardly dwell on the catastrophic possibility of uttering a bantering remark only to find it wholly inappropriate’ The Remains of the Day, p. 16 ………….. When Stevens attempts to banter amongst at a pub, his witticism produced an embarrassed silence, followed by a bemused laugh and change of conversation. Stevens felt disappointed because `I have been devoting some time and effort in recent months to improving my skill in this very area’ `I have been endeavouring to add this skill to my professional armoury so as to fulfil with confidence all Mr Faraday’s expectations with respect to bantering’ The Remains of the Day, p. 130 ................. There is a group of six or seven people gathered just a little way behind me who have aroused my curiosity a little…I naturally assumed at first that they were a group of friends… it became apparent that they were strangers… I can hear them exchanging one bantering remark after another… …when one thinks about it, it is not such a foolish thing to indulge in – particularly if it is the case that in bantering lies the key to human warmth…. I have of course devoted much time to developing my bantering skills, but it is possible I have never previously approached the task with the commitment I might have done… Perhaps, then, when I return to Dartington Hall tomorrow…I will begin practicing with renewed effort’ The Remains of the Day, p 245
In what sense is banter a cultural phenomenon and what symbolic significance does it have? Banter as a meaningful and valued activity and/or skill Banter as a display of (cultural) membership Signs and artefacts that are saturated with (often contested) meaning (e.g. `manager’, `student’ pin-ups, McDonald’s arches) Banter as a source of identity (e.g. professional attribute) Banter as a ritual – taken for grantedness Banter as an articulation of knowledge/power Banter as a lubricant or transgressor of inequalities Manufactures consent Disrupts hierarchies Ambivalences of banter – multiple realities
[Other transparencies presented here that are not available in electronic form]
Culture - Conclusion
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