Wed 13 Mar 2002 21:20
Ritzer Ch 10: Micro-Macro Integration p 378 discussing work of Norbert Elias:
He is interested in tracing such things as changes in what embarasses
us, our increasing sensitivity, how we've grown increasingly observant
of others, and our sharpened understanding of others.
For example, a thirteenth-century poem warned, "A number of people gnaw
on a bone and then put it back in the dish--this is a serious offense"
(Elias, 1939/1994:68). Another thirteenth-century volume warns, "It is
not decent to poke your fingers into your ears or eyes, as some people
do, or to pick your nose while eating" (Elias, 1939/1994:71).
Thus, a late 16th century document says, "Nothing is more improper than
to lick your fingers, to touch the meats and put them into your mouth
with your hand, to stir sauce with your fingers, or to dip bread into
it with your fork and then suck it" (Elias, 1939/1994:79).
p 379
And, as was already pointed out, these changes are not brought about consciously, but rather emerge unconsciously.
Another central point is that these changes generally emanate from a
single source (especially, as we will see, the court in French society)
and then disperse throughout society. Here is the way Elias summarizes
these points:
Certain forms of behavior are placed under prohibition, not because they are unhealthy [a rational reason] but because they lead to an offensive sight and disagreeable associations{???}; shame at offering such a spectacle, originally absent, and fear of arousing such associations are gradually spread from the standard setting circles to larger circles by numerous authorities and institutions. However, once such feelings are aroused and firmly established in society by means of certain rituals ... they are constantly reproduced so long as the structure of human relations is not fundamentally altered. (Elias, 1939/1994:104)
To contract an illness: Listen to the old maxim about the sound of wind. If it can be purged without a noise that is best. But it is better that it be emitted with a noise than it be held back...{How about what A.S. Neill says re: summerhill children not being embarassed by body-function jokes?}
...The sound of farting, especially of those who stand on elevated ground, is horrible. One should make sacrifices with the buttocks pressed firmly together...
...let a cough hide the explosive sound...Follow the law of Chiliades: Replace farts with coughs. (Elias, 1939/1994:106)
Society is gradually beginning to suppress the positive pleasure component in certain functions more and more strongly by the arousal of anxiety; or, more exactly, it is rendering this pleasure 'private' and 'secret' (i.e. suppressing it within the individual), while fostering the negatively charged affects--displeasure, revultion, distaste--as the only feelings customary in society. (Elias, 1939,1994:117)
The procession into the bridal chamber was led by the best man. The bride was undressed by the bridesmaids; The bridal bed had to be mounted in the presence of witnesses if the marriage was to be valid. (Elias, 1939,1994:145-146)
The process of civilization of the sex drive, seen on a large scale, runs parallel to those of other drives, no matter what sociogenetic differences of detail may always be present... control grows ever stricter. The instinct is slowly but progressively suppressed from the public life of society.... And this restraint, like all others, is enforced less and less by direct physical force. It is cultivated in the individual from an early age as habitual self-restraint by the structure of social life, by the pressure of social institutions in general, and by certain executive organs of society (above all, the family) in particular. Thereby the social commands and prohibitions become increasingly part of the self. (Elias, 1939,1994:154)