Vocabularies of Public Life

Texte du rabat

First published in 1992, Vocabularies of Public Life explores the revolution that has taken place in our understanding of contemporary culture and decodes a number of the symbols which now dominate public life.

Résumé
First published in 1992, Vocabularies of Public Life explores the revolution that has taken place in our understanding of contemporary culture and decodes a number of the symbols which now dominate public life.

Contenu

Notes on contributors Introduction: New directions in the empirical study of cultural codes 1. The restriction of meaning in religious discourse: centripetal devices in a fundamentalist Christian sermon 2. The gospel of giving: the narrative construction of a sacrificial economy 3. When scientists saw ghosts and why they stopped: American spiritualism in history 4. Reading science as text 5. Paradox in the discourse of science 6. Putting it together: measuring the syntax of aural and visual symbols 7. The musical structure and social context of number one songs, 1955 to 1988: an exploratory analysis 8. A theory of pictorial discourse 9. Decoding the syntax of modern dance 10. Metaphors of industrial rationality: the social construction of electronics policy in the United States and France 11. The parameters of possible constitutional interpretation 12. The role of elites in setting agendas for public debate: a historical case 13. Materialism, ideology, and political change