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The Role Of Subjectivity And Its Impact On Identity

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The study of culture allows an individual to research and investigate the ways in which ‘culture’ can create and transform a being through individual and shared experiences, everyday life and power. The subject closely examines ways in which a person’s identify is shaped by their encounters with people, texts, institutions and overall understanding. Over time many cultural theorists have put forward many ideas and notions surrounding culture and its affect on one’s self identity, social identity and therefore subjectivity. Theorists such as, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler are a minor fraction of academics that believe that subjectivity is not inherent and naturally occurring but dynamic and adaptable according to society and our ever-changing culture. It is through the concepts of performativity and habitus that the ideas surrounding subjectivity being dynamic and fluid are presented.

Subjectivity
“We think about subjectivities as actors’ thoughts, sentiments and embodied sensibilities, and, especially, their sense of self and self-world relations” (Luhrmann, 2006)
A Central component to the poststructuralist theory is subjectivity as it marks a vital break with humanist conceptions of the individual (Storey, 2006). The term subjectivity refers to how an individual’s view is formed by respective opinions and feelings instead of external influences. It is somewhat accountable for why somebody loves Rock n Roll music while another individual hates it.

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