Social Situations and the Impact of Things
The Example of Catholic Liturgy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15445311 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Torsten Cress (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 381-399 |
| Publication date | 2015-11-11 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Nature and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1558-6073 • E-ISSN: 1558-5468 |
| Publisher | Berghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3167/nc.2015.100307 |
| OpenAlex | W2319374567 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
Today, the insight that material objects are an important part of social life is widely recognized in the social and cultural sciences. But how exactly do things affect the microlevel of social interaction? And by which methodological means can their significance for it be explored? Based on a study of Catholic liturgy, an ethnographic approach is developed that allows for systematic investigations into the role material objects play in social situations. Using Erving Goffman's frame analysis as a theoretical tool, it assumes that things are constitutive of social situations while in turn helping participants make sense of these situations. Conversely, the impact of things is considered closely tied to their particular situational involvement. In order to explore the connections between materiality, meaning, and use, I suggest investigating a number of closely related aspects: the contribution of things to the specifics of the situation in question; the bodily practices in which they are involved; the physical environment in which they are embedded; the physical qualities they possess; and the social definitions tied to them
Aesthetics · Epistemology · Ethnography · Liturgy · Materiality (auditing · Meaning (existential · Politics · Situational ethics · Social constructionism · Social order · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Highly cited | No |