TY - JOUR
T1 - Social order through a prism
T2 - Color as collective representation
AU - Fine, Gary Alan
AU - Montemurro, Beth
AU - Semora, Bonnie
AU - Stalp, Marybeth C.
AU - Claussen, Dane S.
AU - Sierra, Zayda
PY - 1998
Y1 - 1998
N2 - Although color has rarely been examined as a sociological topic, the meaning of color is linked to numerous social domains and serves as a collective representation. Color contributes to social meanings in institutional orders, stratification systems, and identity. While color has some meaning separate from its linkage to particular objects, in most cases colors are situated. We perceive not color, but colored objects. Any given color has multiple meanings that are understood in context. Through our examination of a range of domains in which color has social significance, we suggest that the examination of this field has considerable promise. We conclude by linking the analysis of color to the model of cultural formation suggested by Schudson (1989), focusing on retrievability, rhetorical force, resonance, institutional retention, and resolution.
AB - Although color has rarely been examined as a sociological topic, the meaning of color is linked to numerous social domains and serves as a collective representation. Color contributes to social meanings in institutional orders, stratification systems, and identity. While color has some meaning separate from its linkage to particular objects, in most cases colors are situated. We perceive not color, but colored objects. Any given color has multiple meanings that are understood in context. Through our examination of a range of domains in which color has social significance, we suggest that the examination of this field has considerable promise. We conclude by linking the analysis of color to the model of cultural formation suggested by Schudson (1989), focusing on retrievability, rhetorical force, resonance, institutional retention, and resolution.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1475-682X.1998.tb00479.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1475-682X.1998.tb00479.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032259380
SN - 0038-0245
VL - 68
SP - 443
EP - 457
JO - Sociological Inquiry
JF - Sociological Inquiry
IS - 4
ER -