• • proužek s logem na zelenem •Advanced Methods of Interpretation • •Lecture I • •What is Interpretation? • •Dr. Werner Binder •Masaryk University, Brno •Faculty of Social Studies •Department of Sociology •Advanced Methods of Interpretation •in Cultural Sociology (soc 575) •Spring 2017 •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies • • proužek s logem na zelenem •Syllabus of the Lecture I I.What is Interpretation? II.On Methodology III.Hermeneutics and Structuralism IV.Structural Hermeneutics I V.Structural Hermeneutics II VI.Artifacts and Practices •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies • • proužek s logem na zelenem •Syllabus of the Lecture II Reading Week VIII.Interpretation of Pictures IX.Narratives, Interviews, Discourse X.Discourse Analysis Final Exam •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies • • proužek s logem na zelenem •Course Requirements •Regular attendance •Active participation in the lecture (10%) •Written test at the end of the semester (90%) •The test is based on the content of the lecture and the obligatory readings •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •What is Interpretation? •Meanings of “interpretation”: •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •What is Interpretation? •Meanings of “interpretation”: •Interpretation as problematized understanding •→ e.g. the definition of an ambiguous social situation • • •Hermeneutics [ as method of interpretation] rests on the fact of the non-understanding of discourse: taken in its most general sense, including misunderstanding in the mother tongue and everyday life.” • Friedrich Schleiermacher, General Hermeneutics (1809/1810) •Non-Understanding as a Prerequisite of Interpretation •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •What is Interpretation? •Meanings of “interpretation”: •Interpretation as problematized understanding •Interpretation as explication of meaning •→ e.g. explaining the meaning of a symbol or text •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •What is Interpretation? •Meanings of “interpretation”: •Interpretation as problematized understanding •Interpretation as explication of meaning •Interpretation as translation (“interpreter”) •→ more precisely: simultaneous translation •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •What is Interpretation? •Meanings of “interpretation”: •Interpretation as problematized understanding •Interpretation as explication of meaning •Interpretation as translation (“interpreter”) •Interpretation as performance (“interpreting”) •→ e.g. interpreting a composition, a play, a role etc. •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •What is Interpretation? •Meanings of “interpretation”: •Interpretation as problematized understanding •Interpretation as explication of meaning •Interpretation as translation (“interpreter”) •Interpretation as performance (“interpreting”) •→ All are relevant for interpretative methodology! •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •Cultural Sociology and Interpretation •Interpretative sociology and qualitative social research: •Subjective and symbolic meanings • •Cultural sociology: •Strong focus on the cultural foundations of subjective and symbolic meanings •Culture as structure of meaning: e.g. binary codes, collective representations, classification systems, root metaphors, iconic, performative and narrative patterns •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •Modes of Scientific Observation • •Description •Interpretation • → informative re-description (new information) •Explanation • → informative re-description that includes causes (or conditions) • •Geertz (2006): “thin” vs. “thick description” •Reed (2011): “minimal” vs. “maximal interpretation” •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •What is Interpretation? • proužek s logem na zelenem •Erklären vs. Verstehen • •The success of the sciences in the 19th century led scholars like Johann Gustav Droysen (1808-1884) and Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) to develop “understanding” as an alternative to “explanation” for the humanities. Sciences Humanities Explanation Understanding Nomothetic Ideographic Universal Individual, historical • • •Max Weber •(1864—1920) •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Weber • proužek s logem na zelenem •Weber’s Interpretative Sociology •Weber’s reconciliation of “Erklären” and “Verstehen”: 1.The aim of sociology is to explain social action 2.Social action cannot be understood without subjective meaning, especially the motives of the actors •Conclusion: In sociology, we have to understand the actors in order to explain their actions • • •Sociology […] is a science concerning itself with the interpretive understanding of social action and thereby with a causal explanation of its course and consequences. • •Max Weber (1978: 4, emphasis by me) •Sociology as interpretative and explanatory social science • • •We shall speak of “action” insofar as the acting individual attaches a subjective meaning to his behavior […]. Action is “social” insofar as its subjective meaning takes account of the behavior of others and is thereby oriented in its course. • •Max Weber (1978: 4, emphasis by me) •Action and Subjective Meaning •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Weber • proužek s logem na zelenem •Action Actor Action Motivation Actor (Ego) Social Action Alter Ego Motivation Orientation •Social Action •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Weber • proužek s logem na zelenem •Varieties of Subjective Meaning •Meaning is primarily understood as subjective or motivational meaning (rational or irrational motives) 1.Meaning attributed to real actors: •a) Actual meaning of an actor in a concrete case •b) Average or proximate meaning in case of a plurality of actors 2.Ideal or pure type of meaning attributed to a hypothetical actor (e.g. economic rationality and the homo oeconomicus) • •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Weber • proužek s logem na zelenem •Weber on Interpretation •“All interpretation of meaning, like all scientific observations, strives for clarity and verifiable accuracy of insight and comprehension (Evidenz)” (1978: 5) •Rational understanding and sympathetic participation (Einfühlung → classical hermeneutics) •Direct understanding of a symbolic action (content) vs. the explanatory understanding of an action (motive) •Attributions of causality in sociology are always interpretative, more or less plausible hypotheses •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Weber • proužek s logem na zelenem •Weber’s Critique of Non-Interpretative Sociology •Sociological explanations cannot explain anything without reference to “subjective meaning” •Statistical correlations don’t explain anything a. The correlation has to be interpreted in terms of it’s causal direction b. Causal mechanisms have to be specified •Causal mechanisms have to refer to the subjective and motivational meanings of actors (cf. Hedström 2005) • •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Weber and Durkheim • proužek s logem na zelenem •Case Study: • Durkheim on Suicide •Observation: Statistically, Protestants commit more often suicide than Catholics •Problem I: This doesn’t explain the difference •Problem II: Both religious doctrines prohibit suicide •Explanation: Durkheim’s concept of the “egoistic suicide” interprets and explains this correlation with religious differences in social structure and, accordingly, subjective meaning • • • •Clifford Geertz •(1926—2006) •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Geertz • proužek s logem na zelenem •Geertz: Interpretive Theory of Culture •Actors are entangled in “webs of meaning” •Ethnography as “thick description” (twitch vs. blink) •Every good observation is already an interpretation referring to subjective and social meanings •Semiotic concept of culture → structured system of signs and symbols •“Culture is public because meaning is” (1973: 12) → meaning is no longer purely “subjective” • • • • •To generalize within cases is usually called […] clinical inference. Rather than beginning with a set of observations and attempting to subsume them under a governing law, such inference begins with a set of (presumptive) signifiers and attempts to place them within an intelligible frame. […] In the study of culture the signifiers are not symptoms or clusters of symptoms, but symbolic acts or clusters of symbolic acts, and the aim is not therapy but the analysis of social discourse. •Clifford Geertz (2006: 26) •Interpretation as Clinical Inference •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Geertz • proužek s logem na zelenem •Symbolic Action and Communication •Symbolic Acts as Symptoms Ego/ Sender Symbol/ Message Alter Ego/ Receiver Encoding Decoding Subject/ Social Discourse Symbolic Act Interpreter Clinical Inference Interpretation •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Geertz • proužek s logem na zelenem •Geertz on Interpretation •There is no “verification” of interpretations, though some interpretations are better than others •Risk of over- as well as underinterpretation (1983: 16) •Interpretations have to stand the test of time as new phenomena are interpreted •The boundaries between description and interpretation, empirical analysis and theoretical formulations are fluid •Tension between “thick description” of the surface and the cultural analysis of structural depth (“diagnosis”) •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies •Geertz • proužek s logem na zelenem •Case Study: • The Balinese Cockfight •The cock as ambivalent symbol: sacred expression of the masculine self and at the same time a collective representation of the polluted animal nature of man •Cultural Interpretation: The cockfights stages symbolic binaries, existential conflicts and the collective repressed (catharsis!) of Balinese Society •Social Interpretation: The “deep play” of the cockfight reflects the social matrix of a Balinese village • • proužek s logem na zelenem •Thank you for your attention • •and in advance for criticism and further suggestions! • • •werner.binder@mail.muni.cz •