But another important point about classification is that it is a way of maintaining the order of any system. And what is most disturbing is anything that breaks the classification. So, its not just that you have blacks and whites. But of course, one group of those people are much more positively valued than the other group. Thats how power operates. But then, anything that attempts to ascribe to the black population characteristics which used to be reserved for the white ones, generates enormous tension in the society. Mary Douglas, the anthropologist, describes this in terms of what she calls matter out of place. She says every culture has a kind of order of classification built into it and this seems to stabilize the culture. You know exactly where you are, you know who the inferiors and who the superiors are and how each has a rank, etc. And what disturbs you is what she calls matter out of place. What she means by that is: you dont worry about dirt in the garden, because it belongs in the garden. But the moment you see dirt in the bedroom, you feel you should do something about it, because it doesnt symbolically belong there. And what you do with dirt in the bedroom is - you cleanse it, you sweep it out, you restore the order, you police the boundaries, you restore the hard and fixed boundaries between what belongs and what doesnt: inside/outside; cultured/uncivilized; barbarous and cultivated, and so on. -Stuart Hall
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 05:45:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015