Rethinking embodiment and historicity in cultural sociology

A critical view on Alexander's aesthetics of iconicity

Bibliographic Data

ID4482006
AuthorsCsaba Szaló (0000-0002-5627-6183, Masaryk University, Czech Republic, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume188
Issue1
Pages118-134
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThesis Eleven (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0725-5136 • E-ISSN: 1461-7455
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/07255136251344959
OpenAlexW4410942324
LanguageEN
References cited33

This paper explores the potential for enriching Jeffery Alexander's 'aesthetics of iconicity' within cultural sociology by further developing its engagement with embodiment and historicity. Cultural sociology, concerned with the meanings inherent in social life, distinguishes itself from approaches focused solely on functional unity or linguistic signification, emphasising instead the hermeneutical dimensions of understanding and the lived experiences of those who comprehend meanings. Alexander's description of the perceiving subject's immersion in the object of experience suggests a conception of the subject as a living being, possessing and being a living body. This paper proposes that a more nuanced understanding of iconic experience can be achieved by integrating a deeper exploration of how this embodied subject engages with icons within specific historical contexts. By attending to the lived dimensions of embodiment, we can further illuminate the complex interplay between iconic meaning and the human experience of social life

Aesthetics · Critical theory · Epistemology · Historicity (philosophy · Iconicity · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Philosophy · Public Spaces through Art · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Visual Culture and Art Theory

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