Culture Talk in Capitalist Realism: How We Talk about Culture and Why It's Important

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of everyday practice of culture talk, the search for the most appropriate sociological optics for the study of this phenomenon. The core task of the article is to determine the heuristic potential of the synthesis of the theoretical approaches of Omar Lizardo and Mark Fisher in the context of the analysis of the social practice of culture talk. Particular attention is paid to the concept of "capitalist realism" proposed by Mark Fischer. The connection between capitalist realism and the phenomenon of culture talk, the specificity of the manifestation of capitalist realism in modern Ukrainian society, including in the political sphere, cultural transformations, and other social processes, is analyzed. It is emphasized that the study of the practice of culture talk cannot be limited exclusively to the communicative aspect, that this phenomenon requires a comprehensive study. The emphasis is made on those features of Omar Lizardo's concept that open up new opportunities for empirical analysis of the culture talk phenomenon within the framework of quantitative and qualitative sociological research. A critical analysis of the idea of Omar Lizardo is carried out, which presents culture talk as socialization, that is, communication that does not actualize the conflict and is capable of developing for its own sake. It is noted that the concept of "capitalist realism" takes the analysis of culture talk practice from the plane of a purely communicative aspect to the study of it as a space of political, cultural and social articulations of agents. It is proved that the phenomenon of culture talk contains elements of political, ideological, class discussions. Some examples of such discussions are given, which are typical for modern Ukrainian society. The possibilities of further scientific, including sociological, study of cultural consumption and aesthetic categories within the framework of the presented theoretical and methodological model, namely the synthesis of the theoretical developments of Omar Lizardo and Mark Fisher, are determined.