Abstract
With this volume, we push the study of culture into the material realm, not to make cultural sociology materialistic but to make the study of material life more cultural. We introduce the concept of iconicity, and alongside it the idea of iconic power. Objects become icons when they have not only material force but also symbolic power. Actors have iconic consciousness when they experience material objects, not only understanding them cognitively or evaluating them morally but also feeling their sensual, aesthetic force.
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© 2012 Jeffrey C. Alexander, Dominik Bartmański, and Bernhard Giesen
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Bartmański, D., Alexander, J.C. (2012). Introduction: Materiality and Meaning in Social Life: Toward an Iconic Turn in Cultural Sociology. In: Alexander, J.C., Bartmański, D., Giesen, B. (eds) Iconic Power. Cultural Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137012869_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137012869_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34262-4
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