Book, Outlines of a Theory of Culture[LS]

Language: Brazilian Portuguese. Written in 1968, at a time when Zygmunt Bauman was a professor in Poland, the original of this book was close to release when it was censored and confiscated by the Polish government. For half a century, the consensus was that the manuscript was lost. But, surprisingly, it survived, serving as the basis for this posthumous edition. Outlines of a Theory of Culture is a book notable both for its history and the value of its ideas, shedding new light on the thought of Zygmunt Bauman and presenting an examination of the transformations that were taking place in the social sciences in the 1960s. In the essays here gathered together, Bauman critically and incisively analyzes the currents that were developing at the time, seeking to formulate a semiotic theory of culture himself. In his reflections, he also discusses the birth of a new type of society, characterized by a greater degree of individualization, the intensification of a global network of relationships and rapid and unpredictable transformations, anticipating in a few decades themes that became central in his constructions. Although these sketches are a testimony to a historical moment, they also transcend it, leaving an essential legacy for contemporary human sciences.