Cultural objects possess varying degrees of cultural power, defined as their capacity to directly or indirectly shape beliefs and behavior. Research on cultural objects has identified various ways cultural objects possess cultural power, such as by evoking meanings and emotions and stabilizing and disrupting collective practices. This paper extends research on cultural power by investigating how the dualities of cultural objects contribute to cultural power. Cultural objects do not exist in isolation, but are connected to various persons, places, and things. For example, a TV show has a dual relation with its fans, such that the show's identity is partially constituted by its fans, and the fans’ identities by the show they watch. These dual relations facilitate “contamination,” insofar as something or someone tied to a cultural object alters the meaning of the other persons and things associated with the cultural object. We argue that these “contaminating dualities” are a form of cultural power, insofar as contamination from other nodes in cultural object networks elicits responses from contaminated parties. We illustrate the framework by analyzing a series of cases in which people respond to contamination and discuss the implications for the study of culture and action.

中文翻译：

---

通过污染二元性实现文化权力

文物具有不同程度的文化力量，其定义为它们直接或间接塑造信仰和行为的能力。对文物的研究已经确定了文物拥有文化力量的各种方式，例如通过唤起意义和情感以及稳定和破坏集体实践。本文通过调查文化对象的二元性如何促进文化权力，扩展了对文化权力的研究。文物不是孤立存在的，而是与各种人、地方和事物相连的。例如，电视节目与其粉丝之间存在双重关系，因此该节目的身份部分由其粉丝构成，而粉丝的身份则由他们观看的节目构成。这些双重关系促进了“污染”，只要与文化对象相关的事物或人改变了与该文化对象相关的其他人和事物的含义。我们认为，这些“污染的二元性”是一种文化权力，只要来自文化对象网络中其他节点的污染会引起受污染各方的反应。我们通过分析人们应对污染的一系列案例来说明该框架，并讨论对文化和行动研究的影响。