culture as a complex system of symbols (ernst cassirer)

7/31/2019 Culture as a Complex System of Symbols (Ernst Cassirer)

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Welcome to the Center for Cultural Studies

The Bernese Center for Cultural Studies emphasizes the diachronic and

synchronic dimensions of culture in its research and teaching. We understand

culture as a complex system of symbols (Ernst Cassirer). From an

anthropological perspective, it is characteristic for human beings to createsystems of symbols and to constantly develop these further. Their functions

communicating, creating meaning, explaining the world, and constituting the

world find concrete expression in cultural forms such as rituals, myths, kinship

systems and, crucially, in artistic manifestations and practices. The latter include

forms of expression in the fields of literature, the fine arts, music, dance, theater,

film, and photography. The systems of symbols employed possess a high degree

of discursive density, representivity, and self-reflectivity; thus they contribute to

the constitution of a cultural memory that enables the creation of societal

identities through a dynamic interaction between past and present points ofreference, as well as between global and regional contexts. References to

symbols enable the members of a culture to design images of Self and Other as

well as to distinguish between them and other cultural and ethnic groups.

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~ Conference Announcement ~

Post-Empire Imaginaries? Anglophone Literature, History and the Demiseof Empires23rd GNEL/ASNEL Annual Conference

Berne, May 18 20, 2012

Call for Papers - Post-Empire Imaginaries? (pdf, 104KB)

Conference website: Post-Empire Imaginaries?

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The CCS is now institutional sponsor for the Institute for WorldLiterature (IWL). The IWL is a summer schoolthat takes place alternatingly inHarvard and different universities across the globe. This year's summer school

takes place in Istanbul, 25 June - 20 July 2012. For more information, pleasevisit the IWL's website >>

Announcement* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Distinguished Lecture Series 2012


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Homi K.Bhabha

Mo, 8th

October

Public Lecture

tba

Tue, 9thOctober

WorkshopThe target audience of all DLS-

Workshops comprises advanced

Master-students, PhD-students

and postdocs!

Nancy

Fraser

Mo, 22ndOctober

Public Lecturetba

Tue, 23rdOctober


Workshops comprises advanced

Master-students, PhD-students

and postdocs!

JacquesRancire

Mo, 3rdDecember

Public Lecture

tba

Tue, 4thDecember


Workshops comprises advancedMaster-students, PhD-students

and postdocs!

Because intercultural exchange and confrontation are increasingly important in a

globalized world, and because they are connected to processes and conditions of

valuation, communication, and mediality, the Bernese CCS conducts research

into these complex phenomena and their social and cultural functions within an

interdisciplinary conglomerate of diverse institutes at the Philosophical-

historical Faculty. Thus the interdisciplinary research center of Bernese CulturalSciences draws upon theoretical approaches stemming from various


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backgrounds: these include the traditions of German-language Cultural Science

(Sigmund Freud, Georg Simmel, Max Weber, Ernst Cassirer, Aby Warburg,

Walter Benjamin, Aleida and Jan Assman), French theory (Paul Ricur,

Maurice Halbwachs, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Fritz Fanon, Pierre

Bourdieu), the British and American School of Cultural Studies (RichardHoggart, Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Gayatri C. Spivak, Homi K. Bhabha),

as well as Cultural Analysis (Mieke Bal). In order to examine the complex

artistic phenomena of literature, the fine arts, film, photography, music, theater,

and dance, central importance is accorded to literary theory, image and media

theory, gender and performitivity theory, and myth theory.

Fields of Interest and Thematic Priorities

Both in research and teaching, the CCS embraces several fields of interest.

Among its topical priorities are

1. Inter- and Trans-culturality;

2. Mediality and Intermediality;

3. Valuation in the Global Cultural Arena of the Present; and

4. Cultural Memory Forms of Cultural and Historical Transmission.

More on the thematic priorities of the CCS

The Programmes

The CCS offers the following MA study programmes:

The MA programme World Arts

The MA programme World Literature

In addition to this, the CCS shows its dedication to high-level interdisciplinary

research by offering the Doctoral ProgrammeMediality, Valuation, and Forms of

Cultural Transmission in a Global Context.

A great number and variety of institutes of the philosophical-historical facultyare either associated or affiliated with the CCS both in terms of study

programmes and research. This high degree of embeddedness and connectivity

regarding other philological disciplines is one of the distinguishing marks of the

CCS.

culture as a complex system of symbols (ernst cassirer)

Documents