Making Ourselves: An Outline of Material Culture – Psychoanalytic Approach
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Every day we use objects such as clothes, vehicles, mobile phones, food and many other things which have been designed for our convenience. The things we use, are known as “objects” and “artefacts” whose form is called material culture by social scientists. Material culture reveals cultural and social development processes, because objects and artefacts carry social and personal information within historical, geographical, cultural, social, economic and political frameworks. People construct material culture with idea, beliefs and personal meaning and social meaning. Material culture represents or symbolizes some aspect of culture and has cultural resonance because it displays aspects and patterns of a cultural background of society by members of that society. Studying material culture provides information such as social representation or symbolization that contain important meanings of social actions. It is a method for understanding aspects of the relationship between people and things of certain time and space, what we are like, how we live now and how we lived in the past For this reason, material culture is a rich source of information to cultural historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and many other kinds of sociologists. A study of material culture is the way of understanding human behaviour and culture within a specific social context and social life. There are various different type of theories and methods for analyzing material culture, such as psychoanalytic approach, sociological approach, archaeological approach, anthropological approach and semiotics approach. The psychological approach is a useful method for analyzing hidden meanings and symbolic significance through object, art and icons. Sigmund Freud found psychoanalytic theory a good method for discovering the underlying pattern of behaviour in society and individuals.
Freud developed a topographical model of the mind using the ‘iceberg map’. It described three levels of structure and function: the consciousness stage, the pre- consciousness stage and the unconscious Stage. In particular, he understood the unconscious stage to be the primary source of controlling human behavior. Unconscious content is revealed but usually manifests disguised and symbolized. The Freudian psychoanalytic approach is not only a good method for analyzing group identity but also an effective way of analyzing the connection between personality and things in a specific way. Freud created a structural hypothesis.This states that the human psychological framework consists of three parts: Id, Ego and Superego, which explains how the unconscious mind manipulates human behaviour.
The image on the left is a photo montage representation of my personality. It describes two aspects of my personality. The right side portrays uncontrollable appetites such as violence, lust, aggression, irresponsibility, lack of self-control and compassion, fatalism and detachment, which according to Freud are closely related to the ‘Id’. The ‘Id’ is primarily concerned with biological drives and is the source of all instinctive desire. The ‘Id’ seeks instant gratification without considering the results in order to reduce tension and satisfy desire. The left side shows the ‘Superego’ with my vulnerable feelings of fear, pain, confusion, victimhood and helplessness. These are representations of my moral reactions to my selfish unchecked inclinations and the guilt I feel because of my moral imperative. The ‘Superego’ is in opposition to the ‘Id’. It is often dominated by the moral and ethical norms of the society we live in or choose to follow. The ‘Superego’ is responsible for guiding people to act according to social laws or customs that reward good behaviour and punish bad behaviour. It is the conscious drive to follow conscience and ideals as external influences, or internalized socio-cultural norms represented by ethics. The ‘Ego’ is the pursuit of reality. The function of the ‘Ego’ is to satisfy or express the ‘Id’ according to the parameters of the ‘Superego’.
The ‘Ego’ meets the desire of instinct according to the principle of reality. The ‘Ego’ knows how to distinguish reality from fantasy, wishes, and imagination, and provides the ability to think or judge. The ‘Ego’ controls the balance between ‘Id’ and ‘Super Ego. If the ‘Id’ is too strong, we may become disorderly and antisocial. If the ‘Superego’ is too strong, we may become too stern and stiff. If the conflict between the ‘Id’ and the ‘Superego’ is not properly controlled, human beings become fundamentally 'insecure'.
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According to Freud, the unconscious mind plays a crucial role in influencing human psychology. All human beings have fundamental unconscious wishes such as sexual and destructive impulses and desires, which are restricted through the process of socialization by moral standards and social norms. However, these unconscious wishes and desires remain in hiding within the unconscious mind and affect our thoughts and behaviour. In brief, the ‘Superego’ filters the aggressive instincts of the ‘Id’ and produces right actions according to the social environment. Fundamental instincts and desires may reveal themselves in imagination, dreams and illusions. Artists may reveal their unconscious desires in and through their art. Freud defined this as the concept of sublimation. He said “Psychoanalysis has emphasized that these same sexual impulses also make contributions “to the highest cultural, artistic and social creations of the human spirit in the production of art work.” But the concept could apply to other activities such as work, leisure and collection.
Sublimation is a way of releasing a socially unapproved form or excessive sexual energy through socially acceptable safety valves, that would otherwise manifested in neurotic symptoms or abnormal behaviours. For example, voyeurism can be transformed into photographic technology. The urge to attack is sublimated into boxing, and sexual impulses are sublimated into dance.
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The image below is a Joseph Cornell-style box. It represents my unconscious mind, my ‘Id’- what I might be interested in and want. Cornell’s boxes often included objects and images that represented his dreams, imagination, aspirations and desires to travel and experience the world, never having left New York. It is a good template for me to explore Freud’s theory on myself.
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The shredded paper cage represents the period of my youth. When I was teenager, I realised it was really hard to live in Korea because most Koreans tend to be aware of people’s eyes at all times, observing and comparing with one another. Everything is competitive. It doesn’t matter whether I am successful or not.
I lived in the oppressive society without any support for individuality. I wanted to go abroad, but my parents did not allow it because I was too young. From that time, I started to develop an interest in shoes, especially trainers. The trainers are a symbol of my desire for freedom and an independent life. I didn’t have the money or means to live abroad, but I could afford to buy trainers. It gave me psychological comfort and satisfaction.
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In terms of material culture, objects are an important source for understanding the relationship between the culture and the objects because objects reflect the pattern of social life, social value, social identity and cultural achievement. In particular, objects may influence the development of personality. There are several objects that I think represent how I have been influenced by, and consciously chose to reject, the materialism and relativism of Korean society. These are the university jacket, Louis Vuitton handbags, and a photograph of an Englishwoman visiting her Korean friends in Korea in 2004, when I was 26.
As previously described, the Korean ‘Superego’ social system values outward appearance, an elite education and wealth. As a result there is intense competition to get a place at a top university, children spend hours in extra-academic classes after school every day. Companies are only interested in employing the best graduates, and salaries reflect quality of education. Only the young and attractive can hope to make a good (read ‘financially secure’) marriage. Korea is the plastic surgery capital of the world. Wealth commands obsequious respect. Consequently, individuality and generosity of character are discouraged. Superficiality, social fascism and ruthlessness are encouraged. In Korea, the university you attend is the most important factor for selection for employment. A jacket displaying the logo of a high ranking university means “I am better than you”. In Seoul, young people aspire to wear the jacket from a top university. Growing up in Korea, the university jacket was visible every day. It provoked and troubled my conscious and subconscious mind with its implicit promise and threat. It inspired and depressed me and undermined friendships with the competition, envy and resentment it evoked.
In a similar way, fashion as material culture is one of the clearest revelations of personality. In Korea ownership of luxury goods is a clear and personal symbol of wealth. One of the biggest sources of unhappiness to Koreans, according to a daily poll is 'obsession with wealth'. Only 7.2% of Koreans think that money and happiness are irrelevant, compared with Denmark (47.0%) and Indonesia (44.2%). Research reveals that money can control happiness where there is suffering from poverty within a successful western society, but money does not have such a great influence on happiness when there is economic ease. However, Korea is still at 15th place in the global economy in 2012 and its per capital income is £ 27,220.
According to a recent survey of 6,000 students in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Seoul metropolitan area, 44 percent of high school students responded by saying, "It would be worth going to jail for a year in exchange for one million won." 28% of middle school students and 12% of elementary students answered in the same way.
The power of the social and cultural ‘Superego’ enslaves the majority to conform, but the price is high. Korea has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. By turns I engaged and resisted the urge to conform. Only at the age of 30 did I make the decision to escape to another country.
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In conclusion, objects and artefacts are crucial expressions of form, but which are not just functional or visual; they invoke and involve emotions and psychology, and may represent subconscious desires and satisfy the needs of the unconscious mind. They are a language for describing ourselves in a way that reveals the personality and self-value of individuals and society. Objects carry social and personal information within variable frameworks. They are evidence of character, interest and quality of life. The study of material culture brings idea, beliefs, personal meaning and social meaning to objects that in turn provide evidence of social representation or symbols. It is a way to interpret the significance and meaning of social actions, a method of finding all aspects of the relationship between people and things of time and space, what we are like, how we live now and how we lived in the past.
References
Forty, A. (1986). “Object of Desire: Design and Society 1750-1980”, Thames & Hudson, P.6.
G, Richard. (2005). “Material Culture and Cultural History”, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, xxxxv, pp. 591-595.
W, Ian. (2007). “Studying Material Culture: Origins and Premises, Sage Publication, pp 17-21.
O, Terje. (2004). “Approaching Material Culture: A History of Changing Epistemologies”, Journal of Nordic Archaeological 14, pp. 79- 78.
Asa Berger, A. (2009) “What Objects Mean: An Introduction to Material Culture”, Left Coast Press: California, pp.15-16.
C, David. (1995). “THE CONSCIOUS MIND IN SEARCH OF A THEORY OF CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE”, pp.3-4.
A, John. (2008). “The Unconscious Mind”, Yale University Press, p.1.
T, Wilson. (2004). “Strangers to ourselves”, Harvard University Press, pp.6-12.
The concept of Sublimation. The Lutterworth Press, 2015.
W, Ian. (2007). “Studying Material Culture: Origins and Premises”, Sage Publication, pp 17-21.
O, Terje. (2004). “Approaching Material Culture: A History of Changing Epistemologies”, Journal of Nordic Archaeological 14, pp. 79-78.