ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that Raymond Williams’ major contribution to cultural studies is his development of the idea of culture as ‘a realised signifying system’ (Williams 1981b: 209). We will explore and elaborate the development of this idea in Williams’ work, beginning with a discussion of his early formulations of culture as a signifying system, then charting the shift in Williams’ position from seeing culture as a network of shared meanings, to seeing it as consisting of both shared and contested meanings. The latter position is a result of the introduction in the 1970s of Antonio Gramsci’s (1971) concept of hegemony into Williams’ work on culture. Although the main focus will be to explain Williams’ concept of culture as a realized signifying system, there will be points where we will be using Williams to explain British cultural studies. To paraphrase a wonderful phrase from Williams himself, we will be working with Williams rather than under him.1
