Socializing
Sociability is a basic form of human interaction and exchange that has been removed from the purposes of everyday business and in which those involved are committed to shared values. It serves both for diversion and entertainment as well as for establishing identity and integration into society.
details
The sociologist Georg Simmel bases sociability on an instinct and defines it as "the game form of socialization and as - mutatis mutandis - related to its content-based concreteness as the work of art does to reality." (In another comparison, Simmel calls coquetry a game form of Eroticism .) Sociability in the narrower sense arises when the process of socialization is experienced as a value in itself and a state of happiness beyond social realities.
Sociability is characterized by the great importance attached to sociable manners. As with other games , it is about an “occupation that is performed within certain fixed limits of time and space according to voluntarily accepted but absolutely binding rules, has its goal in itself and is accompanied by a feeling of tension and joy and a Awareness of 'being different' than 'ordinary life'. ( Johan Huizinga ) No role or only a nuanced role should play in the area of sociability, which is particularly important in the area of general society: wealth and prestige, erudition, outstanding skills and merit. In general, the core of what defines the personality and appearance of an individual in general or even only temporarily (character, mood and reality of life) has to be left out. The desired state of happiness of the individual is definitely tied to that of the other person in the area of socializing, in principle no one can find satisfaction at the expense of others.
Historical aspects
The symposia of ancient Greece and the French salons of the 17th and 18th centuries are considered to be outstanding historical examples of forms of socializing, the character of which - those as male society, these as female - but varied depending on the cultural background.
In German texts, the word sociability in the sense of non-purposeful being together did not appear widespread until the 1720s. Before that, according to the prevailing cultural models of the time, Latin or French terms such as otium, loisir, divertissement, civilité , often also socialitas, sociabilité and sometimes sociability were used . In the discourse on sociability that started at that time, a profoundly changed awareness of human interaction and culturally connoted group formations was expressed. This was reflected in almost all types of text in Enlightenment prose: in tracts, letters, narratives and, above all, in contributions to the moral weeklies that dominated the newspaper market and were aimed at an educated middle-class audience . Bourgeois sociability developed pronounced and differentiated forms of this sociability, especially in the domestic sphere.
In the 19th century, associations emerged from this , which can be seen as a public form of sociability compared to domestic socializing in salons and dinners. Communication-related conditions also require content and opportunities to socialize.
The chat also represents a sociable space, although the possibility of anonymity is a significant difference to the previously known forms of sociability and has an impact on identity creation and integration as previously constitutive elements of socialization.
Web links
- Georg Simmel: The sociability (example of pure or formal sociology) . In: Basic questions of sociology - the individual and society. GJ Göschen'sche Verlagshandlung, Berlin and Leipzig 1917.
- Wolfgang Adam: Friendship and sociability in the 18th century. (PDF) (159 kB)
Remarks
- ↑ As an example: Bärbel Pusback, Geselligkeit im Kieler Bildungsbürgertum in the 19th century - using the example of the family of Professor of Economics Wilhelm Seelig , in: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Kieler Stadtgeschichte, Vol. 84, 2008, H. 4, P. 265– 284.