Iconic Power

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction: Materiality and Meaning in Social Life: Toward an Iconic Turn in Cultural Sociology

   1. Introduction: Materiality and Meaning in Social Life: Toward an Iconic Turn in Cultural Sociology

      • Dominik Bartmański, Jeffrey C. Alexander

      Pages 1-12

3. Part I

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13

      PDF

   2. Representation, Presentation, Presence: Tracing the Homo Pictor

      • Gottfried Boehm

      Pages 15-23

   3. Iconic Power and Performance: The Role of the Critic

      • Jeffrey C. Alexander

      Pages 25-35

4. Part II

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 37-37

      PDF

   2. Iconspicuous Revolutions of 1989: Culture and Contingency in the Making of Political Icons

      • Dominik Bartmański

      Pages 39-65

   3. The Making of Humanitarian Visual Icons: On the 1921–1923 Russian Famine as Foundational Event

      • Fuyuki Kurasawa

      Pages 67-84

   4. Seeing Tragedy in the News Images of September 11

      • Wendy Bowler

      Pages 85-99

   5. The Emergence of Iconic Depth: Secular Icons in a Comparative Perspective

      • Werner Binder

      Pages 101-116

5. Part III

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 117-117

      PDF

   2. Shifting Extremisms: On the Political Iconology in Contemporary Serbia

      • Daniel Šuber, Slobodan Karamanić

      Pages 119-138

   3. The Visualization of Uncertainty: HIV Statistics in Public Media

      • Valentin Rauer

      Pages 139-154

   4. How to Make an Iconic Commodity: The Case of Penfolds’ Grange Wine

      • Ian Woodward, David Ellison

      Pages 155-169

   5. Becoming Iconic: The Cases of Woodstock and Bayreuth

      • Philip Smith

      Pages 171-183

6. Part IV

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 185-185

      PDF

   2. Body and Image

      • Hans Belting

      Pages 187-202

   3. Iconic Difference and Seduction

      • Bernhard Giesen

      Pages 203-218

   4. Iconic Rituals: Towards a Social Theory of Encountering Images

      • Julia Sonnevend

      Pages 219-232

   5. Visible Meanings

      • Piotr Sztompka

      Pages 233-245

A collection of original articles that explore social aspects of the phenomenon of icon. Having experienced the benefits and realized the limitations of so called 'linguistic turn', sociology has recently acknowledged a need to further expand its horizons.

• culture
• Iconic Turn
• Ritual
• seduction
• social theory
• sociology
• statistics

'Iconic Power is the strongest theoretical statement to yet come out of the 'Strong Program' in Cultural Sociology. Arguably, more than any other trope, including those of ritual and performance, the concept of 'iconicity' promises to break free of the economistic, linguistic and other kinds of reductionisms that plague the cultural sciences. This fine volume contains both theoretical expositions on how pictorial icons do their cultural work, as well as applied analyses of phenomena such as 9/11, images of famines, Woodstock and Bayreuth as 'iconic' events, expensive Australian red wines and the political iconography of Post-Communist Eastern Europe. If cultural sociology is to have a vibrant future and not repeat the mistakes of the past then in Iconic Power: Materiality and Meaning in Social Life practitioners have a handbook on how to approach the distinctive character of the visual and other non-discursive symbols.' - Eduardo de la Fuente, Sociology, Flinders University; author of Twentieth Century Music and the Question of Modernity

'Ranging in its coverage from the events of 9/11 to images of HIV, and from the revolutions of 1989 to cult wines, this book systematically unpacks the tremendous importance of icons in social life. Both a striking contribution to visual sociology, and a powerful manifesto for new directions in cultural sociology, Iconic Power is fascinating reading for everyone interested in the seductive potency of iconography.' - David Inglis,Head of Department, Department of Sociology, University of Aberdeen

Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University, USA Dominik Bartma?ski, Yale University, USA Gottfried Boehm, Basel University, Switzerland Hans Belting, Northwestern University, USA Fuyuki Kurasawa, York University, Canada Wendy Bowler, LaTrobe University, Australia Werner Binder, Masaryk University, Czech Republic Philip Smith, Yale University, USA Ian Woodward, Griffith University, Australia David Ellison, Griffith University, Australia Daniel uber, University of Lucerne, Switzerland Slobodan Karamani?, Ljubljana Graduate School of the Humanities, Slovenia Valentin Rauer, Goethe University Frankfurt Main, Germany Bernhard Giesen, Universität Konstanz, Germany Julia Sonnevend, Columbia University, USA Piotr Sztompka, Jagiellonian University, Poland

Policies and ethics