Identiteetti

by Stuart Hall

Kirjaan on koottu aikamme tunnetuimman kulttuuritutkija Stuart Hallin keskeiset identiteettiä koskevat kirjoitukset.

1950-luvulla Jamaikalta Isoon-Britanniaan muuttanut Hall kirjoittaa: "Omaleimainen rakenteellinen muutos muokkaa modernien yhteiskuntien muotoa vuosituhannen vaihteessa. Kyse on meille sosiaalisina yksilöinä aiemmin vankkoja asemia antaneiden luokan, sukupuolen, seksuaalisuuden, etnisyyden, rodun ja kansallisuuden kulttuuristen maisemien pirstoutumisesta".

Identiteeteissä Hallia kiinnostaa ennen muuta mahdollisuus maailman muuttumiseen, toimintaan. "On kyllä totta, etteivät ne 'suuret kertomukset', jotka laskivat perustan puheelle minästä yhtenäisenä kokonaisuutena, pidä kutiaan. Mutta tosiasiassa ei ole niin, että pelkät 'minimaaliset minät' kulkisivat tuolla ulkona nokat pystyssä vailla minkäänlaista yhteyttä toinen toisiinsa."

Hallille identiteeteillä on väliä. Juuri ne luovat perustaa politiikalle, joka rakentaa "yhtenäisyyksiä erossa".

Genres: Cultural Studies, Nonfiction

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Stuart Hall was an influential Jamaican-born British sociologist and cultural theorist. He was Professor of Sociology at the Open University, the founding editor of New Left Review, and Director of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Reviews

[Omarf]

I need a beer.

[niina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took some serious psyching for me to get this read. The book's form was extremely fractured and hard to follow, the author jumped from one theory to another and pretty much everything was covered in this academic jargon, so speech and preach were at parts difficult to understand or gather together. Given, identity is not an easy subject and Hall did try very hard to get give the reader a grasp on both the historic and the current points of view, theories and authors, but I'm just not feeling too much better informed now than I was before reading this. Some of the parts that felt important I simply did not get, because I didn't have enough background knowledge, and for me Hall failed to clarify what he was getting at.

The quotes of other academics were at many parts way more clear, easier to read and graphic, which I find a personal proof that Hall's writing simply didn't have too much appeal on me. Some chapters were hands down more interesting than others, and those chapters had mainly to do with history of race and migration and approached both them and the discourses and representations of "the difference" and righteousness from a non-personal, plainly informative discourse.

Another thing I want to add to illuminate my feelings while reading this book is that I hardly took any notes. I didn't know what to grasp and what it was I was trying to get. It was all very confusing. I might have failed as a student.

[Noora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paikoin (erityisesti ihan alussa) hyvinkin mielenkiintoinen kirja, mutta viimeiset pari kirjoitusta olivat jo aika tylsiä.