SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE

The program aims to provide a general theoretical framework of one of the main specializations of the sociological discipline: the study of culture, understood as a study of the processes of creation, production, circulation and use of social meanings. In this frame of reference, a map of the sociological tradition approaches that will address emerging cultural themes will be outlined.

The course is divided into two modules:

I MODULE:

The first module aims to define, in consideration of the fact that the concept of culture has become one of the pillars on which the sociological analysis is founded, the function of culture in the construction of the social world, analyzing the way in which social actors, organizations and groups create and implement cultural objects. In this frame of reference a map of the sociological tradition approaches will be outlined through the contribution of both contemporary authors and classic authors such as Marx, Weber and Durkheim, addressing emerging issues such as social conditioning that influence the development of culture.

Description of the program:

Culture and the "cultural diamond"; cultural meaning; organic culture and superorganic culture; the symbolism of culture; culture as a social creation; production, distribution and reception of culture; culture and meaning in the Marxian and Weberian sociology; Durkheim and the social production of culture; variability and cultural change; ethnocentrism and cultural relativism; global cultural models; National models; the universal cultural models; culture and personality; the cultural construction of social problems; culture and organizations; culture in a connected world.

II MODULE:

Assuming that culture is a historical product, the meaning of culture can be understood theoretically and practically only as the result of an evolving selective process within human communities of thought, feeling and action. An integral part of this process are theatrical microstructures, which cannot be separated from the social environment in which they originated. In this frame of reference the second module will analyze the theatrical phenomenon as a process that differs according to paths that reflect the social changes of the contexts in which it manifests itself, discovering and evaluating its meanings in relation to other phenomena that present themselves and which are modified in the sphere of the wider relations between individual and society.

Description of the program:

Moreno and the Spontaneity Theater; The principle of catharsis in Aristostele; catharsis as a therapy; the sociodrama as a resolution of collective conflicts; the role of the sociodrama as a resolution of collective conflicts; a sociodramatic protocol for the black-white problem; Epic Theater and Marxist ideology; the existential themes of the Absurd Theater; Karl Marx and the Greek Theater; the social function of the Commedia dell’arte; The sociological perspective of Gurvitch; the Elizabethan Theater as a reflection of the anomaly; anomie in the periods of transition between two civilizations; Goffman and the mimetic theory of art; Grotowski's approach; class education of the proletarian child through theatrical animation; the intercultural tradition of Performance.

G. Braga, L. Diena, F. Leonardi, Elementi di sociologia, volume terzo: Forme e processi culturali, Franco Angeli, Milano, cap. 1 – 2.

W. Griswold, Sociologia della cultura, il Mulino, Bologna, 2016.

F.A.M. Caruso, Teoria sociale e teatro. Struttura e azione sociale in Marx, Durkheim, Gurvitch, Goffman, Bonanno, 2018.

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.