Sara Malou Strandvad
Biographic Data
| ID | 3692817 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sara Malou Strandvad |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sara Malou |
| FAMILY NAME | Strandvad |
| SIGNATURE | STRANDVAD S M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Roskilde University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1570-0814 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Sociology about Art: An Introduction to How Sociologists Study the Arts
Fields of Cultural Production
Mermaids as market creators: Cultural entrepreneurship in an emerging practice
With the example of the emergence of professional mermaids, this article shows how primarily young, female enterprising performers developed a new aesthetic category, generated employment from it, and in that way created a market for their services and products. To conceptualize this development, the article employs the Callonian program in market studies into research on cultural entrepreneurship, highlighting that markets are constantly in-the-…
Skills and strategies of activist mermaids: From pretty to powerful pictures
One of the most noteworthy characteristics of the mermaiding community, which has arisen since the early 2000s when self-styled performers started to impersonate the mermaid myth, consists in the performers positioning of themselves as ocean conservation advocates. Pictures constitute a main resource for this advocacy. But how can pretty pictures become powerful tools drawing attention to the critical state of the climate? What does it take to ma…
Aquarium Mermaids: Multiskilled Entrepreneurs in the Creative Economy
Since 2011, multiskilled “entreployees” have navigated the creative economy and forged employment for themselves in aquariums around the world. These mermaid performers plunge into tanks and portray chimerical “belonging” in the aquatic environment. While mermaid shows can easily be debunked as gimmicky commercial entertainment that exploits female sexuality, performers display exceptional skills and not only instill belief in mermaids in young v…
Auteurism and the secondary agency of portfolios: Selection of future students at a design school admission test
Based on an ethnographic study of evaluators' micro-practices during the admission test at a prominent Danish design school, this paper looks into the decisions made by evaluators when selecting future students.Two rounds make up the test in question: A first round where evaluators review portfolios made by anonymous candidates and a second round where a number of candidates are invited to interviews based on positive reviews of their portfolios.…
Inhibited Intentionality and Cultural work: Reconsidering Gender and Female Success
In this paper we suggest ways to reconsider the question regarding the relationship gender and creativity. First, we review the theoretical literature on gender and creativity, concluding that the dominant thought is that men are prevalent in making creative achievements, particularly when connected to the notion of 'genius.' Second, we review the empirical studies on gender and creativity, a body of literature that comes to the same overall conc…
Tilrettelagt deltagelse: Happy-deltagelsesformer
Illustrated with the case of Pharrell William’s global hit Happy and its life on the internet, this paper looks into how audience participation can be scripted and how scripted forms of participation can morph. Positioned in participatory culture studies, originating from cultural and media studies, this paper proposes a perspective inspired by actor-network theory that highlights the script entail in planned participation and the ways in which t…
Contingencies of Value: Devices and Conventions at a Design School Admission Test
Based on a study of the admission test at a design school, this paper investigates the contingencies of aesthetic values as these become visible in assessment practices. Theoretically, the paper takes its starting point in Herrnstein Smith’s notion of ‘contingencies of values’ and outlines a pragmatist ground where cultural sociology and economic sociology meet. Informed by the literature on cultural intermediaries, the paper discusses the role o…
Symmetrical ethnography: A study of filmmakers portraying academia
As a part of an organisational sociological study of Danish film projects, I followed the development of a feature film over a one-year period in 2006–2007. Coincidentally, this film came to be about a drama in the academic world. Thus, while I researched the filmmakers, they investigated life in Academia, using me as an informant. In that way, the positions of researcher and informants were turned upside-down. Or rather, a two-way relation of mu…
The promises of talent: Performing potentiality
In this paper we address the question of talent from a performative perspective. Instead of entering the discussion about whether talent should be considered an individual or a social construction, we suggest looking into how talents are performed. Inspired by the sociology of expectations, we explore when talents are made and what effects they have. Based on studies of Danish film directors and designers, our research suggests that talent is con…
Organizing for the auteur: A dual case study of debut filmmaking
In this article, the question of the auteur is transferred from film criticism to filmmaking processes in order to analyze how production practices are organized. By doing so, the article shifts the focus from understanding the concept of the auteur from a textual perspective to a sociological analysis, where the concept is understood as a social resource that enables and structures certain kinds of interactions. Accordingly, the article investig…
Attached by the Product: A Socio-Material Direction in the Sociology of Art
The sociology of art tends to reduce the cultural product to an outcome of social causality. As an alternative, this article pursues the aim of developing a cultural sociological approach which includes both sociality and materiality. The article builds on an empirical analysis of a case about the development of a film project, which ends in a devastating quarrel and consequently no film. In the analysis, the evolving product is portrayed as a me…
Materializing ideas: A socio-material perspective on the organizing of cultural production
Based on a qualitative study of development processes in the Danish film industry, this article sketches a socio-material perspective for analysing the production of culture. Whereas previous studies of cultural production have identified social factors in cultural production, this article sets out to investigate how the evolving object may form an active part in the collaborative process of its making. The article identifies three moments when t…
Is this what we should be comparing when comparing film production regimes? A systematic typological scheme and application
This article develops and applies a ten parameter typological scheme for comparative analysis of film production regimes. The ten parameters are applied to three ideal typical models — an ‘auteur’ model, a High Concept (Hollywood) model and a model derived from contemporary Danish film production. This application facilitates the elaboration and illustration of the ten parameters and displays the capacity of the typological scheme in structuring …
New Danish Screen – an organizational facilitation of creative initiatives: Gatekeeping and beyond
This article looks at how the film consultant directing the subsidy scheme New Danish Screen carries out this job. The aim of the article is to provide an understanding of the function of an organizational representative who succeeds in generating the making of innovative cultural products. The article illustrates how the job of the film consultant does not only imply choosing between different products but also entails involvement in the making …
Materializing ideas: A socio-material perspective on the organizing of cultural production
Based on a qualitative study of development processes in the Danish film industry, this article sketches a socio-material perspective for analysing the production of culture. Whereas previous studies of cultural production have identified social factors in cultural production, this article sets out to investigate how the evolving object may form an active part in the collaborative process of its making. The article identifies three moments when t…
Attached by the Product: A Socio-Material Direction in the Sociology of Art
The sociology of art tends to reduce the cultural product to an outcome of social causality. As an alternative, this article pursues the aim of developing a cultural sociological approach which includes both sociality and materiality. The article builds on an empirical analysis of a case about the development of a film project, which ends in a devastating quarrel and consequently no film. In the analysis, the evolving product is portrayed as a me…
Inhibited Intentionality and Cultural work: Reconsidering Gender and Female Success
In this paper we suggest ways to reconsider the question regarding the relationship gender and creativity. First, we review the theoretical literature on gender and creativity, concluding that the dominant thought is that men are prevalent in making creative achievements, particularly when connected to the notion of 'genius.' Second, we review the empirical studies on gender and creativity, a body of literature that comes to the same overall conc…
Mermaids as market creators: Cultural entrepreneurship in an emerging practice
With the example of the emergence of professional mermaids, this article shows how primarily young, female enterprising performers developed a new aesthetic category, generated employment from it, and in that way created a market for their services and products. To conceptualize this development, the article employs the Callonian program in market studies into research on cultural entrepreneurship, highlighting that markets are constantly in-the-…
New Danish Screen – an organizational facilitation of creative initiatives: Gatekeeping and beyond
This article looks at how the film consultant directing the subsidy scheme New Danish Screen carries out this job. The aim of the article is to provide an understanding of the function of an organizational representative who succeeds in generating the making of innovative cultural products. The article illustrates how the job of the film consultant does not only imply choosing between different products but also entails involvement in the making …
Is this what we should be comparing when comparing film production regimes? A systematic typological scheme and application
This article develops and applies a ten parameter typological scheme for comparative analysis of film production regimes. The ten parameters are applied to three ideal typical models — an ‘auteur’ model, a High Concept (Hollywood) model and a model derived from contemporary Danish film production. This application facilitates the elaboration and illustration of the ten parameters and displays the capacity of the typological scheme in structuring …
New Danish Screen – an organizational facilitation of creative initiatives: Gatekeeping and beyond
This article looks at how the film consultant directing the subsidy scheme New Danish Screen carries out this job. The aim of the article is to provide an understanding of the function of an organizational representative who succeeds in generating the making of innovative cultural products. The article illustrates how the job of the film consultant does not only imply choosing between different products but also entails involvement in the making …
Materializing ideas: A socio-material perspective on the organizing of cultural production
Based on a qualitative study of development processes in the Danish film industry, this article sketches a socio-material perspective for analysing the production of culture. Whereas previous studies of cultural production have identified social factors in cultural production, this article sets out to investigate how the evolving object may form an active part in the collaborative process of its making. The article identifies three moments when t…
The promises of talent: Performing potentiality
In this paper we address the question of talent from a performative perspective. Instead of entering the discussion about whether talent should be considered an individual or a social construction, we suggest looking into how talents are performed. Inspired by the sociology of expectations, we explore when talents are made and what effects they have. Based on studies of Danish film directors and designers, our research suggests that talent is con…
Organizing for the auteur: A dual case study of debut filmmaking
In this article, the question of the auteur is transferred from film criticism to filmmaking processes in order to analyze how production practices are organized. By doing so, the article shifts the focus from understanding the concept of the auteur from a textual perspective to a sociological analysis, where the concept is understood as a social resource that enables and structures certain kinds of interactions. Accordingly, the article investig…
Attached by the Product: A Socio-Material Direction in the Sociology of Art
The sociology of art tends to reduce the cultural product to an outcome of social causality. As an alternative, this article pursues the aim of developing a cultural sociological approach which includes both sociality and materiality. The article builds on an empirical analysis of a case about the development of a film project, which ends in a devastating quarrel and consequently no film. In the analysis, the evolving product is portrayed as a me…
Symmetrical ethnography: A study of filmmakers portraying academia
As a part of an organisational sociological study of Danish film projects, I followed the development of a feature film over a one-year period in 2006–2007. Coincidentally, this film came to be about a drama in the academic world. Thus, while I researched the filmmakers, they investigated life in Academia, using me as an informant. In that way, the positions of researcher and informants were turned upside-down. Or rather, a two-way relation of mu…
Tilrettelagt deltagelse: Happy-deltagelsesformer
Illustrated with the case of Pharrell William’s global hit Happy and its life on the internet, this paper looks into how audience participation can be scripted and how scripted forms of participation can morph. Positioned in participatory culture studies, originating from cultural and media studies, this paper proposes a perspective inspired by actor-network theory that highlights the script entail in planned participation and the ways in which t…
Contingencies of Value: Devices and Conventions at a Design School Admission Test
Based on a study of the admission test at a design school, this paper investigates the contingencies of aesthetic values as these become visible in assessment practices. Theoretically, the paper takes its starting point in Herrnstein Smith’s notion of ‘contingencies of values’ and outlines a pragmatist ground where cultural sociology and economic sociology meet. Informed by the literature on cultural intermediaries, the paper discusses the role o…
Auteurism and the secondary agency of portfolios: Selection of future students at a design school admission test
Based on an ethnographic study of evaluators' micro-practices during the admission test at a prominent Danish design school, this paper looks into the decisions made by evaluators when selecting future students.Two rounds make up the test in question: A first round where evaluators review portfolios made by anonymous candidates and a second round where a number of candidates are invited to interviews based on positive reviews of their portfolios.…
Inhibited Intentionality and Cultural work: Reconsidering Gender and Female Success
In this paper we suggest ways to reconsider the question regarding the relationship gender and creativity. First, we review the theoretical literature on gender and creativity, concluding that the dominant thought is that men are prevalent in making creative achievements, particularly when connected to the notion of 'genius.' Second, we review the empirical studies on gender and creativity, a body of literature that comes to the same overall conc…
Aquarium Mermaids: Multiskilled Entrepreneurs in the Creative Economy
Since 2011, multiskilled “entreployees” have navigated the creative economy and forged employment for themselves in aquariums around the world. These mermaid performers plunge into tanks and portray chimerical “belonging” in the aquatic environment. While mermaid shows can easily be debunked as gimmicky commercial entertainment that exploits female sexuality, performers display exceptional skills and not only instill belief in mermaids in young v…
Mermaids as market creators: Cultural entrepreneurship in an emerging practice
With the example of the emergence of professional mermaids, this article shows how primarily young, female enterprising performers developed a new aesthetic category, generated employment from it, and in that way created a market for their services and products. To conceptualize this development, the article employs the Callonian program in market studies into research on cultural entrepreneurship, highlighting that markets are constantly in-the-…
Skills and strategies of activist mermaids: From pretty to powerful pictures
One of the most noteworthy characteristics of the mermaiding community, which has arisen since the early 2000s when self-styled performers started to impersonate the mermaid myth, consists in the performers positioning of themselves as ocean conservation advocates. Pictures constitute a main resource for this advocacy. But how can pretty pictures become powerful tools drawing attention to the critical state of the climate? What does it take to ma…
Sociology about Art: An Introduction to How Sociologists Study the Arts
Fields of Cultural Production
Sociology (12 works) · Cultural Industries and Urban Development (10 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Art (5 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Artificial Intelligence (4 works) · Cinema and Media Studies (4 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Social and Cultural Dynamics (4 works) · Aesthetics (3 works)