Let's talk about Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams was a major theorist of the New Left movement. And the New Left denotes the liberal political approach of the 1960s and 70s in the West that engaged in issues like civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, etc. Raymond Williams laid the foundations of the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies.
Want to know a bit about his life? Raymond Williams was born in a working class family in Wales in 1921, just as modernism started. He studied at Cambridge, joined the Communist Party, and fought in the II World War. By the time he died in 1988, he had become one of the greatest theorists of the century.
Do you know his first major work?
Inspired by T.S. Eliot's essay Notes Towards a Definition of Culture (1948), he wrote the famous book Culture and Society (1958). Williams wrote this book at a time when "culture" was regarded as something that is spiritual, high and mighty. This approach segregated high culture from the popular and the ordinary, and was therefore against social equality and democracy. Instead, Williams asserted that (1) "culture is a whole way of life" and (2) culture means the arts and learning. For him, culture is not just a product of material conditions of society, but contributes to the production of economic and political development.
Williams held that democracy and culture should develop together, and analysed institutions of culture (such as literature, language, the press, education, etc). What were his conclusions? By analyzing the institutions of culture, he showed that how we describe, modify, exchange and preserve experience is fundamental to the development of culture and society.
Another essay of the same year
In 1958 itself, Williams wrote another seminal essay responding to Eliot, called "Culture is Ordinary". Here he asserts that Culture is democratic (and not elitist, like Eliot and Leavis thought it is).
The Long Revolution
In 1961 came another major work The Long Revolution. The long revolution in the title refers to how many coming generations will change culture and society. How is that possible? Through the increasing role of the popular and the democratic values in society which constitutes a continuing struggle for freedom and change in the society.
Dominant, Residual and Emergent Cultures
In The Long Revolution, Williams differentiated between dominant, residual and emergent cultures that are mediated by what is called "structures of feeling".
Now, what's structures of feeling?? The term "structures of feeling" refers to the different ways of thinking in different times in history, all conflicting with one another to attain dominance.
Dominant Culture refers to the clearly visible aspects of our practices and the ideas we articulate. For example, consumerism is a dominant aspect of American culture.
Residual Culture refers to the influences of old cultural practices that remain in traces in a modern culture. For example, there are residual traces of the Feudal culture in modern culture. Residual Culture is different from Archaic Culture, for the latter is completely abandoned and forgotten, while the former is still active in modern cultures.
Emergent Culture refers to the new cultural practices that are being constantly created in a modern culture by individuals and groups. This might turn out to be dominant or oppositional. The Beat culture appeared in America in the 1950s as Emergent and Oppositional, but turned to be Dominant eventually.
That brings us to the end of the First Part of the discussion on Raymond Williams.
Part Two will be another blog.
Meanwhile, you could check out my other activities and writings here.
This is an initiative of TES Education.
Raymond Williams was a major theorist of the New Left movement. And the New Left denotes the liberal political approach of the 1960s and 70s in the West that engaged in issues like civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, etc. Raymond Williams laid the foundations of the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies.
Want to know a bit about his life? Raymond Williams was born in a working class family in Wales in 1921, just as modernism started. He studied at Cambridge, joined the Communist Party, and fought in the II World War. By the time he died in 1988, he had become one of the greatest theorists of the century.
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| Courtesy: https://raymondwilliams.co.uk/about/ |
Do you know his first major work?
Inspired by T.S. Eliot's essay Notes Towards a Definition of Culture (1948), he wrote the famous book Culture and Society (1958). Williams wrote this book at a time when "culture" was regarded as something that is spiritual, high and mighty. This approach segregated high culture from the popular and the ordinary, and was therefore against social equality and democracy. Instead, Williams asserted that (1) "culture is a whole way of life" and (2) culture means the arts and learning. For him, culture is not just a product of material conditions of society, but contributes to the production of economic and political development.
Williams held that democracy and culture should develop together, and analysed institutions of culture (such as literature, language, the press, education, etc). What were his conclusions? By analyzing the institutions of culture, he showed that how we describe, modify, exchange and preserve experience is fundamental to the development of culture and society.
Another essay of the same year
In 1958 itself, Williams wrote another seminal essay responding to Eliot, called "Culture is Ordinary". Here he asserts that Culture is democratic (and not elitist, like Eliot and Leavis thought it is).
The Long Revolution
In 1961 came another major work The Long Revolution. The long revolution in the title refers to how many coming generations will change culture and society. How is that possible? Through the increasing role of the popular and the democratic values in society which constitutes a continuing struggle for freedom and change in the society.
Dominant, Residual and Emergent Cultures
In The Long Revolution, Williams differentiated between dominant, residual and emergent cultures that are mediated by what is called "structures of feeling".
Now, what's structures of feeling?? The term "structures of feeling" refers to the different ways of thinking in different times in history, all conflicting with one another to attain dominance.
Dominant Culture refers to the clearly visible aspects of our practices and the ideas we articulate. For example, consumerism is a dominant aspect of American culture.
Residual Culture refers to the influences of old cultural practices that remain in traces in a modern culture. For example, there are residual traces of the Feudal culture in modern culture. Residual Culture is different from Archaic Culture, for the latter is completely abandoned and forgotten, while the former is still active in modern cultures.
Emergent Culture refers to the new cultural practices that are being constantly created in a modern culture by individuals and groups. This might turn out to be dominant or oppositional. The Beat culture appeared in America in the 1950s as Emergent and Oppositional, but turned to be Dominant eventually.
That brings us to the end of the First Part of the discussion on Raymond Williams.
Part Two will be another blog.
Meanwhile, you could check out my other activities and writings here.
This is an initiative of TES Education.
Thank youuu
ReplyDeleteImpressive nd very useful...
ReplyDeleteExplained in way to understand easily.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like it
DeleteExtremely erudite.
ReplyDeleteActually it's very simple and easy, not really erudite!
ReplyDeleteMa'am, erudite in the sense it lessens heaviness of jargons through simplicity and transparency. In a very positive sense.
ReplyDeleteYeah thank you 😍
DeleteThank you ma'am
ReplyDeleteMam, thank you sooo much.. this is so helpful.. I hope you write more of this.
ReplyDeleteThank your dear. Will do.
Delete😍
ReplyDeleteImportant blog for exam perspectives. Thank you madam.
ReplyDeleteGlad to be of help!
DeleteThank you so much ma'am
ReplyDeleteI'm delighted you like it
DeleteMa'am,
ReplyDeleteAs per the lectures of Prof: Rajendran sir, there is one more division known as 'Counter Culture' which is the extremity of Emergent Culture that they won't merge into the Dominant Hegemonic Culture, but stay in itself as violent forces that challenges the dominant ideologies. Hyperactive freaks that challenge the social norms of morality and well-being through misbehaviours and ecstatic habits like taking drugs and liquor and violently attacks social institutions do come under the realm of Counter Culture.
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DeleteYeah Emergent Cultures can be Counted cultures. That's why i have the example of Beat generation. I am not sure if Raymond Williams talked about Counter culture. It's Rajendran's example.
DeleteBut i dont like the description you have given: "Hyperactive freaks that challenge the social norms of morality and well-being through misbehaviours and ecstatic habits"... A person who knows cultural studies should never look at it that way.
ReplyDeleteInformative notes mam
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to understand thank you mam
ReplyDelete