AMCULT 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Richard Dorson, The Minstrel Show, Cognitive Dissonance
Document Summary
How does culture work? (cyclical: contact (beginning of human interaction, discernment/identification (naming process, feeling (opinion-forming, emotional response) Dorson: cultural materialism: what material factors of a culture serve as the cause of sociocultural differences between that culture and others. A uniquely american trait (different from bohemianism: a collection of artists and writers who exist outside of the norm with unconventional/informal social habits) The antithesis of the mainstream exists in opposition to the norms. An intangible aura of getting it, knowing . Exhibited through attitude, speech, dress (transcends outward appearance) Stereotypical try-hards, different for the sake of being different. Lack ideological basis, tribal elders, cohesive platform. Beliefs, values, and practices that we believe to be our social reality. Originally a collision of cultures, a racial clash. Multicultural creation of hipness through popular culture a collision of black and white cultures. Access to hip does not guarantee becoming hip (hipsters today fall into this trap)
