Rein Raud is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Helsinki and a Senior Research Fellow in Cultural Theory at Tallinn University

"A high wire act of cultural theorizing, ambitious and original. Raud pushes the textual tradition of semiotics further than anybody has ever done, into situated, existential practices and circulating cultural institutions. The case studies are fascinating in themselves and illustrate how Raud's theory might work in practice."—Jeffrey Alexander, Yale University"Professor Raud's range is amazing and his book combines in an exciting way perspectives which usually are kept separate. His voice, coming from a less well-known tradition, adds a genuinely new element."—Maurice Bloch, The London School of Economics and Political Science"Meaning in Action would be worth reading for the ambition and importance of its project alone, but Raud's thorough analysis of the fundamentals of culture make this an extremely worthwhile read, and one that I think may spawn a vital discussion about the basic conceptual structure of culture itself."—Cultural Sociology

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionAn outline of the theory and the book1 Looking for culture, looking at thingsSocial/culturalCultural communitiesThe cultural subjectSummary2 Meaning and significationThe problem of referenceTwo kinds of conceptsThe internalisation of meaningClaims and bidsSummary3 Culture as textualityBase-texts and result-textsThe operational memoryOrganisation of knowledgeStandards and codesSummary4 Culture as a network of practicesThe cultural role: functions and goals of a practiceThe social position: the carrier and status of a practiceMaterials and rulesCultural institutionsSummary5 Case Study I: The metaphysics of love and the beginnings of Italian vernacular poetryItalian political landscape in the 13th century: the bidding spaceThe poetic contextThe carriers of the practiceThe science of love as privileged knowledgeVulgare, the mediumInstitutions and textualitySummary6 Case Study II: Art and politics in Eastern Europe in the 1990sThe institutionsThe carriersTextuality, codes and languagesSummary7 Concluding remarksA few final wordsReferencesIndex

Rein Raud is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Helsinki and a Senior Research Fellow in Cultural Theory at Tallinn University

"A high wire act of cultural theorizing, ambitious and original. Raud pushes the textual tradition of semiotics further than anybody has ever done, into situated, existential practices and circulating cultural institutions. The case studies are fascinating in themselves and illustrate how Raud's theory might work in practice."—Jeffrey Alexander, Yale University"Professor Raud's range is amazing and his book combines in an exciting way perspectives which usually are kept separate. His voice, coming from a less well-known tradition, adds a genuinely new element."—Maurice Bloch, The London School of Economics and Political Science"Meaning in Action would be worth reading for the ambition and importance of its project alone, but Raud's thorough analysis of the fundamentals of culture make this an extremely worthwhile read, and one that I think may spawn a vital discussion about the basic conceptual structure of culture itself."—Cultural Sociology

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionAn outline of the theory and the book1 Looking for culture, looking at thingsSocial/culturalCultural communitiesThe cultural subjectSummary2 Meaning and significationThe problem of referenceTwo kinds of conceptsThe internalisation of meaningClaims and bidsSummary3 Culture as textualityBase-texts and result-textsThe operational memoryOrganisation of knowledgeStandards and codesSummary4 Culture as a network of practicesThe cultural role: functions and goals of a practiceThe social position: the carrier and status of a practiceMaterials and rulesCultural institutionsSummary5 Case Study I: The metaphysics of love and the beginnings of Italian vernacular poetryItalian political landscape in the 13th century: the bidding spaceThe poetic contextThe carriers of the practiceThe science of love as privileged knowledgeVulgare, the mediumInstitutions and textualitySummary6 Case Study II: Art and politics in Eastern Europe in the 1990sThe institutionsThe carriersTextuality, codes and languagesSummary7 Concluding remarksA few final wordsReferencesIndex

Rein Raud is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Helsinki and a Senior Research Fellow in Cultural Theory at Tallinn University

"A high wire act of cultural theorizing, ambitious and original. Raud pushes the textual tradition of semiotics further than anybody has ever done, into situated, existential practices and circulating cultural institutions. The case studies are fascinating in themselves and illustrate how Raud's theory might work in practice."—Jeffrey Alexander, Yale University"Professor Raud's range is amazing and his book combines in an exciting way perspectives which usually are kept separate. His voice, coming from a less well-known tradition, adds a genuinely new element."—Maurice Bloch, The London School of Economics and Political Science"Meaning in Action would be worth reading for the ambition and importance of its project alone, but Raud's thorough analysis of the fundamentals of culture make this an extremely worthwhile read, and one that I think may spawn a vital discussion about the basic conceptual structure of culture itself."—Cultural Sociology

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionAn outline of the theory and the book1 Looking for culture, looking at thingsSocial/culturalCultural communitiesThe cultural subjectSummary2 Meaning and significationThe problem of referenceTwo kinds of conceptsThe internalisation of meaningClaims and bidsSummary3 Culture as textualityBase-texts and result-textsThe operational memoryOrganisation of knowledgeStandards and codesSummary4 Culture as a network of practicesThe cultural role: functions and goals of a practiceThe social position: the carrier and status of a practiceMaterials and rulesCultural institutionsSummary5 Case Study I: The metaphysics of love and the beginnings of Italian vernacular poetryItalian political landscape in the 13th century: the bidding spaceThe poetic contextThe carriers of the practiceThe science of love as privileged knowledgeVulgare, the mediumInstitutions and textualitySummary6 Case Study II: Art and politics in Eastern Europe in the 1990sThe institutionsThe carriersTextuality, codes and languagesSummary7 Concluding remarksA few final wordsReferencesIndex