Research on the Development Track of Cultural Studies

Author: Ye Zhijian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: This book is composed of four major parts that are both independent and interconnected. The four parts are titled: The Nurturing Phase, The Initial Phase, The Formation Phase, and The China Phase. The Nurturing Phase primarily elucidates that cultural studies initially emerged from three disciplines: the philosophy of history, sociology, and anthropology. In this phase, the thoughts of figures such as Vico, Herder, Voltaire, Condorcet, Comte, Spencer, Tylor, and Morgan are analyzed and explored, revealing the rich cultural studies ideas embedded in their works and highlighting the characteristics of cultural studies during its nurturing stage. The Initial Phase focuses on elaborating the main viewpoints of the Communication School, the Sociological School, the Psychological School, the Functional School, and the Historical School. Through an analysis of the thoughts of key figures in these five schools, it explains their roles and positions in the history of cultural studies development and points out that, due to their dependence on other disciplines, these schools have not yet fully liberated cultural studies from its reliance on other fields. Therefore, for the development of cultural studies theory, it is still in the initial phase. The Formation Phase primarily discusses the New Evolutionary School, the Structuralist School, the Cultural Personality School, as well as cultural studies in Russia, the former Soviet Union, and Russia, revealing the new characteristics of cultural studies development after World War II. During this stage, the influential theoretical monographs by the renowned American culturalist Kroeber—The Science of Culture: Studies of Man and Civilization (1964) and The Evolution of Culture (1956)—marked the preliminary formation of modern cultural studies. As a result, White was hailed as the "Father of Cultural Studies." The China Phase provides a general outline of the development of cultural studies in China, demonstrating that as an Eastern country, China, despite being late to the field of cultural studies research compared to the West and starting later, possesses rich and distinctive materials, thus inevitably occupying a significant place in the history of cultural studies development.