MULTIVOCALITY OF CROSS IN POLISH SOCIETY PRACTICES A Sociological Analysis of Key Symbols in Social Processes and Practices – An Introduction
Journal Title: Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica - Year 2012, Vol 13, Issue 1
Abstract
In Poland, the last two decades can be viewed as a period in which there has been a great deal of controversy and conflict, and which have coincided with the presence and use in the public sphere of religious symbols and values. Since the revolution of solidarity changed Polish society, those conflicts have been observed in different fields of social life: in politics, art, religion and even in science. In this article we decided to consider them, not only as a simple expression of a new culture of liberty in Poland, but we are also following an evolution of sociological knowledge about symbols and the conflicts which they involve. The main perspective in this text is concentrated around a theoretical point of view. We describe independent nature (Ricouer, Eco, Łotman) and the different kinds of symbols which take active roles in public discourse and in many social performances. We give special attention to the key symbols (Ortner, Turner, Łotman) which have a strong influence on present social situations and which are used in contemporary performative cultures to construct or dissolve conflicts. We do not forget about the power of a social context. For example, we consider how key symbols play dominating roles in the expression of social identity, within the dynamic of postmodern culture (Eco). We also describe how sociologists and anthropologists select and observe those central symbols when they are in social use. Using the example of Polish society we present the changeable nature of symbols and we do this with reference to the ritual and “quasi-ritual process”, which has been observed by many sociologists.
Authors and Affiliations
Magdalena Gajewska, Piotr Pawliszak
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP52874
- DOI -
- Views 81
- Downloads 0
The Social Phenomenon of Football: The Third Side Of The Stands. Activity of Supporter Trusts in Poland
The paper presents results of research on the issue of football fans associations in Polandin context of the civil society. The analysis is divided into three areas: (1) the phenomenonof formalizing football supporters g...
25 LAT PO KOMUNIZMIE W EUROPIE: ZJAWISKA, PROBLEMY I TEORETYCZNE WYJAŚNIENIA: The individualization process – constructive or destructive for communal ties? Deliberations on Norbert Elias’s ideas
In this article I consider whether the process of individualization inescapably disturbscommunal ties. This is an especially important question when we consider social changesin Central Europe 25 years after the politica...
CULTURE: Categories of Folk Laughter and Mimetic Violence as Tools for the Analysis of Contemporary ‘Burning Witches’ Rejoicing
MISCELLANEA Artistic Project: Consciousness – Archetype – Place
25 YEARS AFTER THE COMMUNISM IN EUROPE: PHENOMENA, PROBLEMS AND TEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS: Radical Urban Movements in Poland – the case of squatting
Radical social movements are more and more often the subject of academic inquiry, wheretheir agenda, identity-building processes and repertoires of action are examined vis a visthe dominant discursive opportunity structu...