Bättre folk, bättre smak? : Suomenruotsalaisten maku ja kulttuuripääoma

The aim of my thesis, which consists of five original articles and a summarizing chapter, is to study the identity, lifestyle and cultural taste of the Finnish Swedes, i.e. the Swedish-speaking language minority in Finland, from a qualitative point of view. The Finnish Swedes are a somewhat special minority, first of all because of their wide-ranging language rights guaranteed by the constitution, and secondly because of the common image that Finnish Swedes represent a more legitimate or better lifestyle and taste than the Finnish-Speaking Finns. This conception is corroborated by the fact that, in comparison to the language majority, the Swedish-speakers have better health, employment, income and so on according to a number of quantitative studies. My research data is composed of twenty-six focus group interviews conducted among a geographically and socio-economically wide range of Swedish-speaking Finns. Group sizes ranged from 3 to 11 people. In the interviews, culture was approached through a framework of seven topics: music, cinema, television, arts, reading, eating and clothing. In each focus group interview, two subfields of culture were discussed along with a short section about cultural events and participation and definitions on good and bad taste. After discussing culture and taste, there was a final discussion on the Finnish Swede identity. The main theoretical framework of my thesis comes from Pierre Bourdieu (1979) and his followers: I am asking whether the status of being a Swedish-speaker can be used as a means of distinction. The main research questions are the following: (1) How does the Swedish-speaking minority look studied in the light of extensive qualitative data and in a framework of lifestyle and taste? (2) What kind of differences in lifestyle, taste and linguistic identity are there between different Finnish Swedes and how do those connect with socio-economical position, place of residence or age? I also ask how belonging to the language minority might work as a tool for cultural distinction and how different Swedish-speaking groups take use of it. My main research question is (3) whether mother tongue is a remarkable factor of lifestyle or cultural taste in contemporary Finland.

From Habits to Social Structures : Pragmatism and Contemporary Social Theory

Pragmatism has sometimes been taken as a catchphrase for epistemological stances in which anything goes. However, other authors argue that the real novelty and contribution of this tradition has to do with its view of action as the context in which all things human take place. Thus, it is action rather than, for example, discourses that should be our starting point in social theory. The introductory section of the book situates pragmatism (especially the ideas of G. H. Mead and John Dewey) within the field and tradition of social theory. This introductory also contextualizes the main core of the book which consists of four chapters. Two of these chapters have been published as articles in scientific journals and one in an edited book. All of them discuss the core problem of social theory: how is action related to social structures (and vice versa)? The argument is that habitual action is the explanation for the emergence of social structures from our action. Action produces structures and social reproduction takes place when action is habitualized; that is, when we develop social dispositions to act in a certain manner in familiar environments. This also means that even though the physical environment is the same for all of us, our habits structure it into different kinds of action possibilities. Each chapter highlights these general insights from different angles. Practice theory has gained momentum in recent years and it has many commonalities with pragmatism because both highlight the situated and corporeal character of human activity. One famous proponent of practice theory is Margaret Archer who has argued that the pragmatism of G. H. Mead leads to an oversocialized conception of selfhood. Mead does indeed present a socialized view of selfhood but this is a meta-sociological argument rather than a substantial sociological claim. Accordingly, one can argue that in this general sense intersubjectivity precedes subjectivity and not the other way around. Such a view does not indicate that our social relation would necessarily "colonize" individual action because there is a place for internal conversations (in Archer s terminology); it is especially in those phases of action where it meets obstacles due to the changes of the environment. The second issue discussed has the background assumption that social structures can fruitfully be conceptualized as institutions. A general classification of different institution theories is presented and it is argued that there is a need for a habitual theory of institutions due to the problems associated with these other theories. So-called habitual institutionalism accounts for institutions in terms of established and prevalent social dispositions that structure our social interactions. The germs of this institution theory can be found in the work of Thorstein Veblen. Since Veblen s times, these ideas have been discussed for example, by the economist Geoffrey M. Hodgson. His ideas on the evolution of institutions are presented but a critical stance is taken towards his tendency of defining institutions with the help of rules because rules are not always present in institutions. Accordingly, habitual action is the most basic but by no means the only aspect of institutional reproduction. The third chapter deals with theme of action and structures in the context of Pierre Bourdieu s thought. Bourdieu s term habitus refers to a system of dispositions which structure social fields. It is argued that habits come close to the concept of habitus in the sense that the latter consists of particular kinds of habits; those that are related to the reproduction of socioeconomic positions. Habits are thus constituents of a general theory of societal reproduction whereas habitus is a systematic combination of socioeconomic habits. The fourth theme relates to issues of social change and development. The capabilities approach has been associated with the name of Amartya Sen, for example, and it underscores problems inhering in economistic ways of evaluating social development. However, Sen s argument has some theoretical problems. For example, his theory cannot adequately confront the problem of relativism. In addition, Sen s discussion lacks also a theory of the role of the public. With the help of arguments derived from pragmatism, one gets an action-based, socially constituted view of freedom in which the role of the public is essential. In general, it is argued that a socially constituted view of agency does not necessarily to lead to pessimistic conclusions about the freedom of action.

Poetics of the Nameless Middle : Japan and the West in Philosophy and Music of the Twentieth Century

This study investigates the affinities between philosophy, aesthetics, and music of Japan and the West. The research is based on the structuralist notion (specifically, on that found in the narratology of Algirdas Julius Greimas), that the universal grammar functions as an abstract principle, underlying all kinds of discourse. The study thus aims to demonstrate how this grammar is manifested in philosophical, aesthetic, and musical texts and how the semiotic homogeneity of these texts can be explained on this basis. Totality and belongingness are the key philosophical concepts presented herein. As distinct from logocentrism manifested as substantializations of the world of ideas , god or mind, which was characteristic of previous Western paradigms, totality was defined as the coexistence of opposites. Thus Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Dōgen, and Nishida often illustrated it by identifying fundamental polarities, such as being and nothing, seer and seen, truth and illusion, etc. Accordingly, totality was schematically presented as an all-encompassing middle of the semiotic square. Similar values can be found in aesthetics and arts. Instead of dialectic syntagms, differentiated unity is considered as paradigmatic and the study demonstrates how this is manifested in traditional Japanese and Heideggerian aesthetics, as well as in the aspects of music of Claude Debussy and Tōru Takemitsu.

Yhteiskuntaluokka ja maku

Thee thesis, which consists of four original articles and a summarizing chapter, discusses homology between social class and cultural taste. Cultural taste is defined as the choices made in different areas of culture (television, cinema, reading, music, visual arts, sports, dining out, and leisure pursuits). Taste choices manifest themselves as likes and dislikes but also in what a person does. Social class is observed through occupational status, level of education, income and subjective views on class. The central research question concerns the relationship between social class and consumption of culture. The study aims to clarify what kind of class related differences can be found in cultural consumption, but also how these differences are connected to other factors stratifying the society such as gender, age and mother tongue. The data that is being analyzed consists of the data gathered by the project Cultural Capital and Social Differentiation in Contemporary Finland: An International Comparison. Class identification and the relation of cultural divisions to the socioeconomic ones are being analyzed using a nationally represent-ative survey data (N = 1388). Individual interviews (N = 25) and twenty focus group interviews (N = 20) on cultural consumption are also being analyzed. The theoretical framework is built around Pierre Buourdieu s theory of distinction and its critique but also recent research that expands on bourdieusian theory. In the theory of distinction lifestyle is thought to be defined through the quantity and quality of different capitals (economic, cultural and social). Cultural tastes are therefore linked to class status through different capitals. The study shows that the majority of Finns can place themselves in the class scene. Moreover, class-related differences can be found in cultural consumption in empirical analyses. The main differences between classes can be seen in how different classes relate to cultural products but also in the number of leisure pursuits. Being well-off economically is connected to being well-off culturally. High status manifests as omnivorous cultural consumption. The central differences are built upon occupational class so that the working class is more passive than other class groups. Same difference can be found in relation to education and income level. Other im-portant divisive variable is age. Age group defines what is being consumed: the younger respondents are inclined to choose popular culture whereas the older age groups choices represent more traditional taste choices.

Making Music, Making Muslims : A Case Study of Islamic Hip Hop and the Discursive Construction of Muslim Identities on the Internet

Hip-hopin juuret juontavat 1970-luvulle Yhdysvaltoihin, mutta hip-hop-kulttuuri ja musiikkityyli ovat sen jälkeen levinneet ympäri maailmaa osana globalisaatiokehitystä. Myös monet nuoret muslimit tekevät nykyään hip-hop-musiikkia, ja yhä useampi tuo myös sanoituksiinsa vaikutteita Islamista ja elämästään muslimina. Musiikin asema on islamissa varsin kiistelty, eikä sitä ole selvästi sallittu (halal) tai kielletty (haram) muslimeilta. Muslimien tekemää hip-hoppia on toistaiseksi tutkittu hyvin vähän. Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan diskurssianalyysin keinoin, miten tapaustutkimuksena toimivalla muslimhiphop.com-internetsivustolla argumentoidaan ja konstruoidaan käsityksiä muslimi-identiteetistä. Teoreettisena ja analyyttisenä viitekehyksenä toimii sosiaalikonstruktivistinen näkemys identiteetistä kontekstisidonnaisena sekä puheessa ja teksteissä diskursiivisesti rakentuvana. Tutkielma kyseenalaistaa aiempien tutkimusten oletuksen hip-hopista vaikutuksiltaan yksinomaan positiivisena muslimi-identiteetille sekä muslimeja yhdentävänä tekijänä. Aineisto on kerätty edellä mainitulta sivustolta syksyn 2010 ja kevään 2011 aikana, josta analyysiin on rajattu vain itse sivusto ja sen hip-hoppia käsittelevät osiot. Sivusto ja sen perustaja ovat yhdysvaltalaisia, mutta sivustolla esiteltävien artistien tausta on hyvin monikulttuurinen. Moni on myös maahanmuuttajana nykyisessä kotimaassaan. Aineistossa esiintyviä teemoja ja diskursseja eritellään ja analysoidaan tutkielmassa lainauksien avulla. Sivuston periaatteissa ja artistien esillepääsyn kriteereissä määritellään tarkasti asennoituminen Islamin ja musiikin yhdistämiseen: mikäli sanoitukset ja artistit noudattavat Islamin oppeja, on muslimin sallittua tehdä ja kuunnella tällaista musiikkia. Islam-aiheisen hip-hopin perustellaan olevan ennen kaikkea vaihtoehto valtavirran hip-hopille, jota konstruoidaan aineistossa moraalisesti arveluttavaksi. Hip-hopille sekä muslimeille sallittuja ja kiellettyjä elementtejä erottelevan halal-haram-diskurssin ohella aineistosta nousee esiin opetusdiskurssi. Muslimien tekemän hip-hopin perustellaan edistävän Islamin opettamista erityisesti nuorille muslimeille ja siten vahvistavan positiivista muslimi-identiteettiä. Myös positiivisen muutoksen diskurssia käytetään aineistossa runsaasti liittyen mm. muslimiyhteisöihin sekä muslimeihin kohdistuviin taloudellisiin ja sosiaalipoliittisiin epäkohtiin ja stereotypioihin; musiikin sisältöä ja sen tekemistä perustellaan sen voimalla muuttaa asioita parempaan suuntaan. Monet muslimiartistit kamppailevat yhdistääkseen toisaalta Islamin ja taiteellisen luovuuden ja ilmaisuvapauden, toisaalta menestyäkseen kaupallisesti unohtamatta uskonnollista vakaumustaan. Monilla heistä hip-hop on ollut vahvasti läsnä kasvuympäristössä, mutta sen yhdistäminen Islamin periaatteisiin aiheuttaa kysymyksiä ja kyseenalaistuksia oman musiikillisen ja uskonnollisen identiteetin muodosta ja sisällöstä. Aineiston perusteella monet muslimiartistit ja Islam-aiheista hip-hoppia kuuntelevat muslimit joutuvat jatkuvasti puolustamaan musiikkia siihen kielteisesti suhtautuville muslimeille sekä ei-muslimeille, jotka vierastavat sen uskonnollisuutta. Muslimi-identiteettiä neuvotellaan jatkuvasti, ja se näyttäytyy aineistossa moniulotteisena ja tilanteisesti rakentuvana. Avainsanat: Muslimit, Islam, hip-hop, identiteetti, Internet, diskurssi, diskurssianalyysi

Divergencies of Perception : The Possibilities of Merleau-Pontian Phenomenology in Analyses of Contemporary Art

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) has been known as the philosopher of painting. His interest in the theory of perception intertwined with the questions concerning the artist s perception, the experience of an artwork and the possible interpretations of the artwork. For him, aesthetics was not a sub-field of philosophy, and art was not simply a subject matter for the aesthetic experience, but a form of thinking. This study proposes an opening for a dialogue between Merleau-Pontian phenomenology and contemporary art. The thesis examines his phenomenology through certain works of contemporary art and presents readings of these artworks through his phenomenology. The thesis both shows the potentiality of a method, but also engages in the critical task of finding the possible limitations of his approach. The first part lays out the methodological and conceptual points of departure of Merleau-Ponty s phenomenological approach to perception as well as the features that determined his discussion on encountering art. Merleau-Ponty referred to the experience of perceiving art using the notion of seeing with (voir selon). He stressed a correlative reciprocity described in Eye and Mind (1961) as the switching of the roles of the visible and the painter. The choice of artworks is motivated by certain restrictions in the phenomenological readings of visual arts. The examined works include paintings by Tiina Mielonen, a photographic work by Christian Mayer, a film by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, and an installation by Monika Sosnowska. These works resonate with, and challenge, his phenomenological approach. The chapters with case studies take up different themes that are central to Merleau-Ponty s phenomenology: space, movement, time, and touch. All of the themes are interlinked with the examined artworks. There are also topics that reappear in the thesis, such as the notion of écart and the question of encountering the other. As Merleau-Ponty argued, the sphere of art has a particular capability to address our being in the world. The thesis presents an interpretation that emphasises the notion of écart, which refers to an experience of divergence or dispossession. The sudden dissociation, surprise or rupture that is needed in order for a meeting between the spectator and the artwork, or between two persons, to be possible. Further, the thesis suggests that through artworks it is possible to take into consideration the écart, the divergence, that defines our subjectivity.

Finite data performance of MUSIC and minimum norm methods

In the direction of arrival (DOA) estimation problem, we encounter both finite data and insufficient knowledge of array characterization. It is therefore important to study how subspace-based methods perform in such conditions. We analyze the finite data performance of the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) and minimum norm (min. norm) methods in the presence of sensor gain and phase errors, and derive expressions for the mean square error (MSE) in the DOA estimates. These expressions are first derived assuming an arbitrary array and then simplified for the special case of an uniform linear array with isotropic sensors. When they are further simplified for the case of finite data only and sensor errors only, they reduce to the recent results given in [9-12]. Computer simulations are used to verify the closeness between the predicted and simulated values of the MSE.

Carnatic music analysis: Shadja, swara identification and rAga verification in AlApana using stochastic models

We analyze the AlApana of a Carnatic music piece without the prior knowledge of the singer or the rAga. AlApana is ameans to communicate to the audience, the flavor or the bhAva of the rAga through the permitted notes and its phrases. The input to our analysis is a recording of the vocal AlApana along with the accompanying instrument. The AdhAra shadja(base note) of the singer for that AlApana is estimated through a stochastic model of note frequencies. Based on the shadja, we identify the notes (swaras) used in the AlApana using a semi-continuous GMM. Using the probabilities of each note interval, we recognize swaras of the AlApana. For sampurNa rAgas, we can identify the possible rAga, based on the swaras. We have been able to achieve correct shadja identification, which is crucial to all further steps, in 88.8% of 55 AlApanas. Among them (48 AlApanas of 7 rAgas), we get 91.5% correct swara identification and 62.13% correct R (rAga) accuracy.

Compressive sensing for music signals: comparison of transforms with coherent dictionaries

Compressive Sensing (CS) is a new sensing paradigm which permits sampling of a signal at its intrinsic information rate which could be much lower than Nyquist rate, while guaranteeing good quality reconstruction for signals sparse in a linear transform domain. We explore the application of CS formulation to music signals. Since music signals comprise of both tonal and transient nature, we examine several transforms such as discrete cosine transform (DCT), discrete wavelet transform (DWT), Fourier basis and also non-orthogonal warped transforms to explore the effectiveness of CS theory and the reconstruction algorithms. We show that for a given sparsity level, DCT, overcomplete, and warped Fourier dictionaries result in better reconstruction, and warped Fourier dictionary gives perceptually better reconstruction. “MUSHRA” test results show that a moderate quality reconstruction is possible with about half the Nyquist sampling.

Music and symbolic dynamics: the science behind an art

Music signals comprise of atomic notes drawn from a musical scale. The creation of musical sequences often involves splicing the notes in a constrained way resulting in aesthetically appealing patterns. We develop an approach for music signal representation based on symbolic dynamics by translating the lexicographic rules over a musical scale to constraints on a Markov chain. This source representation is useful for machine based music synthesis, in a way, similar to a musician producing original music. In order to mathematically quantify user listening experience, we study the correlation between the max-entropic rate of a musical scale and the subjective aesthetic component. We present our analysis with examples from the south Indian classical music system.

STUDENT'S-t MIXTURE MODEL BASED MULTI-INSTRUMENT RECOGNITION IN POLYPHONIC MUSIC

We address the problem of multi-instrument recognition in polyphonic music signals. Individual instruments are modeled within a stochastic framework using Student's-t Mixture Models (tMMs). We impose a mixture of these instrument models on the polyphonic signal model. No a priori knowledge is assumed about the number of instruments in the polyphony. The mixture weights are estimated in a latent variable framework from the polyphonic data using an Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm, derived for the proposed approach. The weights are shown to indicate instrument activity. The output of the algorithm is an Instrument Activity Graph (IAG), using which, it is possible to find out the instruments that are active at a given time. An average F-ratio of 0 : 7 5 is obtained for polyphonies containing 2-5 instruments, on a experimental test set of 8 instruments: clarinet, flute, guitar, harp, mandolin, piano, trombone and violin.