Configurational analysis (Konfigurationsanalyse)
Encyclopedia
In cultural and social studies, configurations are patterns of behaviour, movement (→movement culture) and thinking, which research observes when analysing different cultures and/ or historical changes. The term “configurations” is mostly used by comparative anthropological studies and by cultural history
. Configurational analysis became a special method by the Stuttgart school of Historical Behaviour Studies
during the 1970s and later by body culture studies
in Denmark.
Configurational analysis is marked by its distance towards the history of ideas
and intention
s, which are conceived as mainstreams in historical studies. Configurations of human behaviour and movement have attracted special attention in the framework of phenomenology (→Phenomenology (philosophy)) and particularly in materialist phenomenology.
----
Ruth Benedict
(1934) contributed to the anthropology of Native Americans
by using the term of “configurations” as a translation of German “Gestalt :de:Gestalt”. Configuration denoted a whole of social attitudes, practices and beliefs and was nearly identical with “culture
”. It was used for comparison – between the Hopi
Indians and the Indians of the prairies, between Japanese and Western culture – and in a perspective of cultural relativism
: Each culture has configurations of its own
.
Gaston Bachelard
(1938) used the term ”diagram” to describe an order of conceived reality both in scientific and in literary understanding. This was his key to a "materialist psychoanalysis
"
.
Bachelard’s approach became later a source of inspiration for Michel Foucault
.
Norbert Elias
(1939, 1970) described certain patterns of relations between human beings as figuration http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/figuration – in English: ”configuration” – becoming visible in play of cards, dance and football. He described these configurations as das sich wandelnde Muster, das die Spieler miteinander bilden (the changing pattern, which players form with each other), Spannungsgefüge (relations of suspense), Interdependenz der Spieler (interdependence of players), and das fluktuierende Spannungsgleichgewicht, das Hin und Her einer Machtbalance (the fluctuating balance of suspense, the to-and-fro of a balance of power)
This became a key to his sociology of civilization
.
Michel Foucault
(1966) used the term la configuration in historical studies of philosophy, in order to characterize “the order of the things”, patterns of knowledge changing in epistemological disruptions. The configurations of savoir changed, according to Foucault, in following historical steps
There are indicators that these configurations may disappear or transform again in a post-modern age.
, as they were developed at the University of Stuttgart during the 1970s by the historians August Nitschke and Henning Eichberg
. Nitschke analyzed raum-zeitliche Muster (patterns of space and time) and Körperanordnungen (orders of the body) as “configurations” when comparing patterns of art
and patterns of social behavior
. Configurations were similarities, analogies and changing patterns of figures in a given space
.
This analytical approach was comparable to concepts, which in recent time have challenged historiography: mentality (Georges Duby
), affect control (Norbert Elias
) (→Affect control theory
), perception (Lucien Febvre
), structural thinking (Claude Lévi-Strauss
), needs (David McClelland
), and interaction (George Herbert Mead
)
.
The configurational approach contrasted deliberately with the mainstream of historiography
explaining history by the aims of its actors (pragmatism
), as an expression of weltanschauung (psychology
and history of ideas
) or by interests (in social history
)
.
The configurational analysis was especially applied to comparative
and historical studies of sport
and dance
as indicators of social change
. The comparative
analysis of athletics, ball games, equestrianism
, martial arts
, gymnastics
, and dance
showed some common configurations as: the functional parceling of space, a new dynamic of “progress” and speed, the modern taste of suspense
, the principle of competition
, and the production of result tables. The configurations of movement culture prefigured the patterns of productivity
orientation, which characterized the Industrial Age
.
The applied concept of “configuration” was here different from "system" (→cultural system
) (being more static and systematic, and related to the negative term of the non-systematic), from “style” (being more aesthetic and having undertones of taste, subjectivity
and stylization), and from “structure
” (having undertones of “the functional”, as a heritage from structural functionalism
in sociology). In contrast to these terms, configuration denotes a more dynamic pattern in change.
Configurations as patterns of behaviour, movement and thinking reflect man's perception of reality
. They give an epochal pattern of perception
which concurrently defines a framework for action. But in no way they describe the whole reality of an epoch. Furthermore, their power to explain individual actions is limited. The epochal "reality" is no straitjacket which does not allow freedom of action
. Nevertheless, in each epoch there are typical ways to act or to behave, to move or to think. They correspond with the way people perceive reality. Acting or thinking in this way may be right or wrong – it is typical anyway
.
culture, which spread in Denmark during the 1980s, developed the configurational analysis further, revealing inner tensions and contradictions of a given society
.
The configurative approach was applied to the analysis and especially to comparison of different fields of activities: popular festivity, fitness culture (→physical fitness
), sportive and non-sportive ball games, sport racing
and parcour, different outdoor activities, and different health
cultures. Configurational analysis focused on bodily movement in time and space, on the energy of movement, on interpersonal relations, and on the objectification of movement. Above this basis, analysis included the superstructure of institutions and ideas
(→Base and superstructure
), which organize and reflect collective actions and interests.
In any of these approaches, “configuration” made it possible to compare concrete human practice – i.e. “material” bodily phenomena – with larger spheres of society
and culture
.
Benedict, Ruth 1934: Patterns of Culture. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin
Bourdieu, Pierre 1966/67: "Champs intellectuel et projet créateur." In: Temps modernes, 22, 865-906
Dietrich, Knut 2001 (ed.): How Societies Create Movement Culture and Sport. University of Copenhagen: Institute of Exercise and Sport Sciences
Eichberg, Henning 1978: Leistung, Spannung Geschwindigkeit. Sport und Tanz im gesellschaftlichen Wandel des 18./19. Jahrhunderts. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta
Elias, Norbert 1939: Über den Prozess der Zivilisation. Soziogenetische und psychogenetische Untersuchungen. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp . – English 1982: The Civilizing Process. Oxford: Blackwell
Foucault, Michel 1966: Les mots et les choses. Paris: Gallimard . – English 1970: The Order of Things. An Archeology of the Human Sciences. New York: Pantheon
Kalckhoff, Andreas (1982): "Historische Verhaltensforschung: Ethnologie unserer Vergangenheit. Die Konfiguration eines Aufstandes im 10. Jahrhundert", in Gehlen, Rolf & Wolf, Bernd (eds.): Werner Müller zu seinem 75.Geburtstag, Unter dem Pflaster liegt der Strand 11. Berlin: Karin Kramer.
Nitschke, August 1975: Kunst und Verhalten. Analoge Konfigurationen. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog
Sloterdijk, Peter 1998/2004: Sphären. Plurale Sphärologie. Vols.1-3, Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
. Configurational analysis became a special method by the Stuttgart school of Historical Behaviour Studies
Historical Behaviour Studies
Historical behaviour studies is a field of research in cultural history and cultural anthropology and a particular methodological approach to the study of human behaviour.----- Method and object of research :...
during the 1970s and later by body culture studies
Body culture studies
Body culture studies describe and compare bodily practice in the larger context of culture and society, i.e. in the tradition of anthropology, history and sociology...
in Denmark.
Configurational analysis is marked by its distance towards the history of ideas
History of ideas
The history of ideas is a field of research in history that deals with the expression, preservation, and change of human ideas over time. The history of ideas is a sister-discipline to, or a particular approach within, intellectual history...
and intention
Intention
Intention is an agent's specific purpose in performing an action or series of actions, the end or goal that is aimed at. Outcomes that are unanticipated or unforeseen are known as unintended consequences....
s, which are conceived as mainstreams in historical studies. Configurations of human behaviour and movement have attracted special attention in the framework of phenomenology (→Phenomenology (philosophy)) and particularly in materialist phenomenology.
----
Configurations in earlier cultural studies
Configurations in different cultures were studied since early twentieth century.Ruth Benedict
Ruth Benedict
Ruth Benedict was an American anthropologist, cultural relativist, and folklorist....
(1934) contributed to the anthropology of Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
by using the term of “configurations” as a translation of German “Gestalt :de:Gestalt”. Configuration denoted a whole of social attitudes, practices and beliefs and was nearly identical with “culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
”. It was used for comparison – between the Hopi
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
Indians and the Indians of the prairies, between Japanese and Western culture – and in a perspective of cultural relativism
Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture. This principle was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and...
: Each culture has configurations of its own
.
Gaston Bachelard
Gaston Bachelard
Gaston Bachelard was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. To the latter he introduced the concepts of epistemological obstacle and epistemological break...
(1938) used the term ”diagram” to describe an order of conceived reality both in scientific and in literary understanding. This was his key to a "materialist psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
"
.
Bachelard’s approach became later a source of inspiration for Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
.
Norbert Elias
Norbert Elias
Norbert Elias was a German sociologist of Jewish descent, who later became a British citizen.-Biography:...
(1939, 1970) described certain patterns of relations between human beings as figuration http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/figuration – in English: ”configuration” – becoming visible in play of cards, dance and football. He described these configurations as das sich wandelnde Muster, das die Spieler miteinander bilden (the changing pattern, which players form with each other), Spannungsgefüge (relations of suspense), Interdependenz der Spieler (interdependence of players), and das fluktuierende Spannungsgleichgewicht, das Hin und Her einer Machtbalance (the fluctuating balance of suspense, the to-and-fro of a balance of power)
This became a key to his sociology of civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
.
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
(1966) used the term la configuration in historical studies of philosophy, in order to characterize “the order of the things”, patterns of knowledge changing in epistemological disruptions. The configurations of savoir changed, according to Foucault, in following historical steps
- • The age of RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
focused on the chains of similarities, going from sign to sign. CervantesCervantes-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
shaped an ironical picture of this configuration by the phantasmas of Don Quixote.
- • The 18th century constructed the tableau as an universal grammar. On this base, Linné constructed the genealogical trees of plants and animals as a tableau of life. An ironical picture of this configuration was given by Laurence SterneLaurence SterneLaurence Sterne was an Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; but he also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics...
in his Tristram Shandy.
- • The 19th century discovered progressProgress (history)In historiography and the philosophy of history, progress is the idea that the world can become increasingly better in terms of science, technology, modernization, liberty, democracy, quality of life, etc...
and evolutionEvolutionEvolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
– in life science as natural historyNatural historyNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, in economy as productionManufacturingManufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, and in language as linguistic history. On the background of these modern configurations, which took their form around 1800, individual subjectivitySubjectivitySubjectivity refers to the subject and his or her perspective, feelings, beliefs, and desires. In philosophy, the term is usually contrasted with objectivity.-Qualia:...
was constructed, as well as the dynamic of industrial life developed.
There are indicators that these configurations may disappear or transform again in a post-modern age.
Configurations in Historical Behaviour Studies
Configurational analysis (in German Konfigurationsanalyse) became a particular methodological approach in the framework of Historical Behaviour StudiesHistorical Behaviour Studies
Historical behaviour studies is a field of research in cultural history and cultural anthropology and a particular methodological approach to the study of human behaviour.----- Method and object of research :...
, as they were developed at the University of Stuttgart during the 1970s by the historians August Nitschke and Henning Eichberg
Henning Eichberg
Henning Eichberg Henning Eichberg Henning Eichberg (born December 1, 1942 in Schweidnitz, Silesia is a German sociologist and historian, teaching at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense...
. Nitschke analyzed raum-zeitliche Muster (patterns of space and time) and Körperanordnungen (orders of the body) as “configurations” when comparing patterns of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and patterns of social behavior
Social behavior
In physics, physiology and sociology, social behavior is behavior directed towards society, or taking place between, members of the same species. Behavior such as predation which involves members of different species is not social...
. Configurations were similarities, analogies and changing patterns of figures in a given space
.
This analytical approach was comparable to concepts, which in recent time have challenged historiography: mentality (Georges Duby
Georges Duby
Georges Duby was a French historian specializing in the social and economic history of the Middle Ages...
), affect control (Norbert Elias
Norbert Elias
Norbert Elias was a German sociologist of Jewish descent, who later became a British citizen.-Biography:...
) (→Affect control theory
Affect control theory
In control theory affect control theory proposes that individuals maintain affective meanings through their actions and interpretations of events...
), perception (Lucien Febvre
Lucien Febvre
Lucien Febvre was a French historian best known for the role he played in establishing the Annales School of history. He has designed the Encyclopédie française together with Anatole de Monzie.-Biography:...
), structural thinking (Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....
), needs (David McClelland
David McClelland
David C. McClelland was an American psychological theorist. Noted for his work on need theory, he published a number of works from the 1950s until the 1990s and developed new scoring systems for the Thematic Apperception Test and its descendants...
), and interaction (George Herbert Mead
George Herbert Mead
George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher, sociologist and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. He is regarded as one of the founders of social psychology and the American sociological tradition in general.-...
)
.
The configurational approach contrasted deliberately with the mainstream of historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
explaining history by the aims of its actors (pragmatism
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
), as an expression of weltanschauung (psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and history of ideas
History of ideas
The history of ideas is a field of research in history that deals with the expression, preservation, and change of human ideas over time. The history of ideas is a sister-discipline to, or a particular approach within, intellectual history...
) or by interests (in social history
Social history
Social history, often called the new social history, is a branch of History that includes history of ordinary people and their strategies of coping with life. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments...
)
.
The configurational analysis was especially applied to comparative
Comparative
In grammar, the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another, and is used in this context with a subordinating conjunction, such as than,...
and historical studies of sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
as indicators of social change
Social change
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
. The comparative
Comparative
In grammar, the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another, and is used in this context with a subordinating conjunction, such as than,...
analysis of athletics, ball games, equestrianism
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
, martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
, and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
showed some common configurations as: the functional parceling of space, a new dynamic of “progress” and speed, the modern taste of suspense
Suspense
Suspense is a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, most often referring to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work. Suspense is not exclusive to fiction, though. Suspense may operate in any situation where there is a lead-up to a big event or dramatic...
, the principle of competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
, and the production of result tables. The configurations of movement culture prefigured the patterns of productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
orientation, which characterized the Industrial Age
Industrial Age
Industrial Age may refer to:*Industrialisation*The Industrial Revolution...
.
The applied concept of “configuration” was here different from "system" (→cultural system
Cultural system
A cultural system may be defined as the interaction of different elements of culture. While a cultural system is quite different from a social system, sometimes both systems together are referred to as the sociocultural system....
) (being more static and systematic, and related to the negative term of the non-systematic), from “style” (being more aesthetic and having undertones of taste, subjectivity
Subjectivity
Subjectivity refers to the subject and his or her perspective, feelings, beliefs, and desires. In philosophy, the term is usually contrasted with objectivity.-Qualia:...
and stylization), and from “structure
Structure
Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society...
” (having undertones of “the functional”, as a heritage from structural functionalism
Structural functionalism
Structural functionalism is a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions and institutions...
in sociology). In contrast to these terms, configuration denotes a more dynamic pattern in change.
Configurations as patterns of behaviour, movement and thinking reflect man's perception of reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
. They give an epochal pattern of perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
which concurrently defines a framework for action. But in no way they describe the whole reality of an epoch. Furthermore, their power to explain individual actions is limited. The epochal "reality" is no straitjacket which does not allow freedom of action
Freedom of action
Freedom of action in philosophy has been distinguished from freedom of the will at least since the work of Thomas Hobbes and David Hume, who claimed that human freedom was the lack of external coercion and not the supposed "free will," which they took to be a will that could act independently of...
. Nevertheless, in each epoch there are typical ways to act or to behave, to move or to think. They correspond with the way people perceive reality. Acting or thinking in this way may be right or wrong – it is typical anyway
.
Configurations in Body Culture Studies
Studies of bodyBody
With regard to living things, a body is the physical body of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death...
culture, which spread in Denmark during the 1980s, developed the configurational analysis further, revealing inner tensions and contradictions of a given society
.
The configurative approach was applied to the analysis and especially to comparison of different fields of activities: popular festivity, fitness culture (→physical fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
), sportive and non-sportive ball games, sport racing
Racing
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...
and parcour, different outdoor activities, and different health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
cultures. Configurational analysis focused on bodily movement in time and space, on the energy of movement, on interpersonal relations, and on the objectification of movement. Above this basis, analysis included the superstructure of institutions and ideas
Idea
In the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...
(→Base and superstructure
Base and superstructure
In Marxist theory, human society consists of two parts: the base and superstructure; the base comprehends the forces and relations of production — employer-employee work conditions, the technical division of labour, and property relations — into which people enter to produce the necessities and...
), which organize and reflect collective actions and interests.
- • Time of bodily movement is marked, among others, by contradictions between acceleration and slowness – between living rhythm and mechanical pace – between linear-abstract and irreversible time – between cyclical, progressing and situational time. Historical change saw for instance the transformation from the noble exercisesExercises- 30th Anniversary Bonus Tracks:-Band members:*Dan McCafferty - vocals*Darrell Sweet - drums, backing vocals*Pete Agnew - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals*Manny Charlton - guitar, 12-string guitar, backing vocals-Additional musicians:...
of the eighteenth century with their circulating and formally measured patterns to modern gymnasticsGymnasticsGymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
and sports with their patterns of speed, acceleration, and flow, which characterized industrial behaviour more generally.
- • Space of bodily movement is characterized by contradictions between the straight line and the labyrinthLabyrinthIn Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...
– between connection and parcellation of spaces – between geometrical and directed space – between space, place and intermediary space. FoucaultMichel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
’s study of the panopticonPanopticonThe Panopticon is a type of building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched...
as a specific modern way of organising the space of movement and bodily visibility around 1800 showed the societal depth of this analysis.
- • Energy of bodily movement consists of a multiplicity of different atmospheres, radiations, moods and modes of attunement. Modern suspension (suspenseSuspenseSuspense is a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, most often referring to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work. Suspense is not exclusive to fiction, though. Suspense may operate in any situation where there is a lead-up to a big event or dramatic...
, tension, thrill, excitement – in German Spannung) emerged in eighteenth and nineteenth century’s boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and ball games at the same time as it appeared in detective novels. This coincidence was illustrative for the configurational change towards industrial societyIndustrial societyIn sociology, industrial society refers to a society driven by the use of technology to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a high capacity for division of labour. Such a structure developed in the west in the period of time following the Industrial Revolution, and replaced...
. Social energy was also illustrated by the study of laughterLaughterLaughing is a reaction to certain stimuli, fundamentally stress, which serves as an emotional balancing mechanism. Traditionally, it is considered a visual expression of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy. It may ensue from hearing a joke, being tickled, or other stimuli...
in the tradition of Mikhail BakhtinMikhail BakhtinMikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin was a Russian philosopher, literary critic, semiotician and scholar who worked on literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language...
’s analysis of RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
society.
- • Interpersonal relations in bodily movement tell about power and genderGenderGender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
– about winners and losers – about you- and we-relations in motion. The study of sports has especially been enriched by the attention to gender unbalances in body culture.
- • ObjectificationObjectificationObjectification is the process by which an abstract concept is made as objective as possible in the purest sense of the term. It is also treated as if it is a concrete thing or physical object...
of bodily movement is especially characteristic for modern body cultures. Bodily movement is reified in a tension between process and result – between social production, reproduction and a-productive encounters in bodily activity – between producing data or pictures by movement. The production of records by modern sports has been a central point for understanding modern industrial behaviour.
- • Above these basic body-cultural processes, body culture shows patterns of organizational and institutional character as well as the meanings and ideas, which are ascribed to bodily practices. Mainstream studies of sport often over-emphasize these superstructures (→Base and superstructureBase and superstructureIn Marxist theory, human society consists of two parts: the base and superstructure; the base comprehends the forces and relations of production — employer-employee work conditions, the technical division of labour, and property relations — into which people enter to produce the necessities and...
), while the configurational analysis of body culture gives priority to the focus on bodily practice, in the framework of a materialist phenomenology.
Further configurational approaches
Configurational analysis can be compared with other contemporary approaches in cultural and social studies.- • Pierre BourdieuPierre BourdieuPierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher.Starting from the role of economic capital for social positioning, Bourdieu pioneered investigative frameworks and terminologies such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, and the concepts of habitus, field or location,...
(1966/67, 1979) launched the concept of ”habitus” to describe patterns of action, of bodily practice and presentation, of taste and aesthetic form (comparable to the Gothic style of Medieval cathedrals). Like configuration, habitus was illustrative for a certain homology, which could be found inside a given social formation or class and as distinction between different social classes.
- • Peter SloterdijkPeter SloterdijkPeter Sloterdijk is a German philosopher, television host, cultural scientist and essayist. He is a professor of philosophy and media theory at the University of Art and Design Karlsruhe. He currently co-hosts the German show Im Glashaus: Das Philosophische Quartett.-Biography:Sloterdijk's father...
(1998/99) developed a cultural ”morphology”, which described the psychosocialPsychosocialFor a concept to be psychosocial means it relates to one's psychological development in, and interaction with, a social environment. The individual needs not be fully aware of this relationship with his or her environment. It was first commonly used by psychologist Erik Erikson in his stages of...
geometry of people’s living space and inhabitations, their world and their understanding of God. Micro- and macrospheres were related to each other by characteristic configurations.
In any of these approaches, “configuration” made it possible to compare concrete human practice – i.e. “material” bodily phenomena – with larger spheres of society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
.
Literature
Bachelard, Gaston 1938: La psychanalyse du feu. – English 1964: Psychoanalysis of fire. Boston: BeaconBenedict, Ruth 1934: Patterns of Culture. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin
Bourdieu, Pierre 1966/67: "Champs intellectuel et projet créateur." In: Temps modernes, 22, 865-906
- 1979: La distinction. Paris: Minuit. – English 1984: Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London: Routledge
Dietrich, Knut 2001 (ed.): How Societies Create Movement Culture and Sport. University of Copenhagen: Institute of Exercise and Sport Sciences
Eichberg, Henning 1978: Leistung, Spannung Geschwindigkeit. Sport und Tanz im gesellschaftlichen Wandel des 18./19. Jahrhunderts. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta
- 1998: Body Cultures. London: Routledge
- 2001: “Thinking contradictions. Towards a methodology of configurational analysis, or: How to reconstruct the societal signification of movement culture and sport.” In: Knut Dietrich (ed.): How Societies Create Movement Culture and Sport. University of Copenhagen: Institute of Exercise and Sport Sciences, 10-32.
- 2010: Bodily Democracy. London: Routledge
Elias, Norbert 1939: Über den Prozess der Zivilisation. Soziogenetische und psychogenetische Untersuchungen. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp . – English 1982: The Civilizing Process. Oxford: Blackwell
- 1970: Was ist Soziologie? München: Juventa. – English 1978: What is Sociology? New York: Columbia University Press.
Foucault, Michel 1966: Les mots et les choses. Paris: Gallimard . – English 1970: The Order of Things. An Archeology of the Human Sciences. New York: Pantheon
Kalckhoff, Andreas (1982): "Historische Verhaltensforschung: Ethnologie unserer Vergangenheit. Die Konfiguration eines Aufstandes im 10. Jahrhundert", in Gehlen, Rolf & Wolf, Bernd (eds.): Werner Müller zu seinem 75.Geburtstag, Unter dem Pflaster liegt der Strand 11. Berlin: Karin Kramer.
Nitschke, August 1975: Kunst und Verhalten. Analoge Konfigurationen. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog
- 1975 (ed.): Verhaltenswandel in der industriellen Revolution. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer
- 1981: Historische Verhaltensforschung. Stuttgart: Ulmer
Sloterdijk, Peter 1998/2004: Sphären. Plurale Sphärologie. Vols.1-3, Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp.