A few definitions I can refer back to in writing my seminar presentation and for future reference, from my past and present culture studies courses, as well as the previously discussed Foucault definitions.
the arts of existence (life as a work of art): 'techniques of the self' or 'arts of existence' as 'those reflective and voluntary practices by which men not only set themselves rules of conduct, but seek to transform themselves, to change themselves in their singular being, and to make of their life into an oeuvre that carries certain aesthetic values and meets certain stylistic criteria'. -Foucault (1992) [1984]. The Use of Pleasure. The History of Sexuality: Volume Two. Tr. R. Hurley. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, pp. 10-11.
epistemology: the study of knowledge and systems (western or otherwise)
episteme: How the culture thinks about itself (Believing that one areas cultures are natural forces the idea that other cultures are unnatural and own is the only way)
Representation: how discourses work, in words, music, gesture, visually [Think of people as a walking set of signs who without speaking or attempting to create meaning produce class sex race status popularity, do so.
Culture: Foucault describes culture as 'a hierarchical organization of values, accessible to everybody, but at the same time the occasion of a mechanism of selection and exclusion'.
Foucault (2001). L'hermeneutique du sujet. Cours au Collège de France, 1981-1982. Paris: Gallimard Seuil, p. 173.
Discourse: Discourse is a rather slippery notion in Foucault's work but at the most basic level he uses the term to refer to the material verbal traces left by history. He also uses it to describe 'a certain "way of speaking"'. Foucault (1972) [1969]. The Archaeology of Knowledge. Tr. A. M. Sheridan Smith. London: Tavistock, p. 193.Discursive formation: The discursive formation is roughly equivalent to a scientific discipline. discursive practice: This term refers to a historically and culturally specific set of rules for organizing and producing Different forms of knowledge. It is not a matter of external determinations being imposed on people's thought, rather it is a matter of rules which, a bit like the grammar of a language, allow certain statements to be made.
Ethics: Ethics concerns the kind of relation one has to oneself. The essential condition for the practice of ethics is freedom, the ability to choose one action, not another. Foucault makes a distinction between moral codes (which are simply collections of rules and precepts) and ethics. He suggests there are four aspects to how the individual constitutes him/herself as the moral subject of his or her own actions. The first aspect relates to the part of the individual which acts as the focus of moral conduct. The second aspect concerns what makes an individual recognize their moral obligations. The third aspect relates to the means by which individuals transform and work on themselves. The fourth aspect concerns what sort of person an individual might want to be.
Events: An event is something that has a beginning and an end. Every human experience, activity, idea and cultural form can be analyzed as an event or as a series of events.
Ethics: Ethics concerns the kind of relation one has to oneself. The essential condition for the practice of ethics is freedom, the ability to choose one action, not another. Foucault makes a distinction between moral codes (which are simply collections of rules and precepts) and ethics. He suggests there are four aspects to how the individual constitutes him/herself as the moral subject of his or her own actions. The first aspect relates to the part of the individual which acts as the focus of moral conduct. The second aspect concerns what makes an individual recognize their moral obligations. The third aspect relates to the means by which individuals transform and work on themselves. The fourth aspect concerns what sort of person an individual might want to be.
Events: An event is something that has a beginning and an end. Every human experience, activity, idea and cultural form can be analyzed as an event or as a series of events.
Aesthetics: A guiding principle in matters of artistic beauty and taste; artistic sensibility
This last definition and our discussions of 'events' in class struck an idea, I am going to navigate through my research using this concept of events as defined here be Foucault.
Human aesthetic and value judgements are constantly evolving, due to changing influences which can be classed as events. To draw on a previous example, of the Jeep and the Prius, the environmental awareness rise would be an 'event', and I will use this definition as a key point in explaining the translation (theory into the social practice, or product) in each example.
