1st Edition

A Society of Signs?

By David Harris Copyright 1996
    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    An introduction to current debates around the themes of culture, identity and lifestyle. Such debates often begin with the assertion that we live in a society of signs. Features include: summary and critical discussion of some basic approaches in social theory and cultural analysis; key readings of some of the work of writers including Barthes and Giddens; reviews of work in more traditional areas, for example, the sociology of identity and the embedding process found in social life; and advice on further reading.

    Introduction, Chapter 1. Sociological Perspectives and the Complexities of Modern Life, Chapter 2. The Politics of Cultural Autonomy Chapter, 3. Discourse Theories and Critical Analysis Chapter, 4. The Textual Metaphor in Barthes' 'New Semiology', Chapter 5. Postmodernism, Anti-Foundationalism and the Aversion Against the Universal Chapter, 6. Film and Video and 'Postmodernist Sensibility' Chapter, 7. Personal Identities in Modernity Conclusion, Bibliography

    Biography

    David Harris is Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at the College of St Mark and St John, Plymouth.