Society and literary culture can only be studied together

Evidence

Reciprocity. No thing or event has a fixed, intrinsic meaning; its meaning only emerges through interaction with other things or events. This is equally true of the particular items within any cultural system, of the individual’s relationship to any given piece of culture, and of the individual’s actions in society. … A fundamental circularity is involved in all cultural systems. No legal precept is valid in itself, but only in relation to other legal precepts. A line has no intrinsic length; it can be measured only by comparing it with another line. The validity of any scientific or philosophic proposition depends on its relation to another proposition, the validity of which ultimately depends on the first. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 72 (#expands, via linked claim)

The British sociologist Tom Burns put this nicely somewhere when he observed that the task of art is to make sense out of life. The task of social science is to make sense out of the senses we make out of life. By such reasoning the social scientist stands toward his material—cultural forms such as religion, ideology, journalism, everyday speech—as the literary critic stands toward the novel, play, or poem. He has to figure out what it means, what interpretations it presents of life, and how it relates to the senses of life historically found among a people. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 250 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Culture is the interrelation of all social practices, not one practice.; Art cannot be studied apart from other social activities.; Social science interprets the interpretations that culture makes of life — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 250 (+3 more)

Related

• Culture is the interrelation of all social practices, not one practice. (similarity 0.84)
• Art cannot be studied apart from other social activities. (similarity 0.83)
• Meaning in culture emerges only through interaction with other elements (similarity 0.83)
• Social science interprets the interpretations that culture makes of life (similarity 0.82)
• Meaning arises from relations of difference between terms (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Meaning in culture emerges only through interaction with other elements #expands (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 72
• Social science interprets the interpretations that culture makes of life #corroborates (0.50) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 250