SOCA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Symbolic Interactionism, Benjamin Lee Whorf, Barbara Kruger
Document Summary
The power of culture is that it makes our sensory experiences meaningful. Once your cultural experience conditions you to interpret concrete experiences a certain way, this becomes your reality ( such as words/ language) High culture- upper class (opera, ballet, etc. ) Popular culture- all social classes (movies, pop music, etc. Culture consists of the shared symbols and their definitions that people create to solve real- Symbols are concrete things or abstract terms that represent something else. (the gold ring on my finger is an object that represents my marital status) Symbols are abstract and is what the culture refers to it as. A symbol"s definition informs us what a symbol represents ( again the ring) Because of culture certain symbols are shared, idiosyncratic symbols are not apart of culture example: a psychotic person who believes that rain clouds represent happiness is using a symbol that is not part of culture.
