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Commentary: Beauty, Class and Discourse: Issues in Debate

Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil, asmolka{at}unicamp.br

Elizabeth dos Santos Braga

Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, bethsbraga{at}uol.com.br

In this text we proceed through a brief review of Naomi Lee's (2009) article, highlighting her significant contributions to social and cultural psychology. In our dialogue with her text we inquire about some arguments and methodological procedures she presents. We raise some specific questions related to how the issue of beauty is framed, and we ponder on how a broadening of the scope to include history—of ideas, of relations—would bring some important elements to her approach. As Lee relates beauty and class, we examine the nuanced meanings of lack and deficiency in her analytical work. We also discuss her assumptions and position concerning discourse and dialogue which mark her ways of proceeding through the analysis of the interviews. We speculate that the depersonalized answer appointed in the interviewees' discourse can be related to a way of considering beauty as disembodied.

Key Words: discourse • positioning • sense production • social practices • subjectivity

Culture & Psychology, Vol. 15, No. 2, 169-180 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1354067X08099620


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