ABSTRACT
From the 1920s, more emphasis was placed on the aspect of time. Theorists realised that culture took place on a timeline, that there were certain processes and principles underlying cultural change. Spengler (1918/1922) in particular understood culture as a being that went through childhood, youth, adulthood and eventually ended up as civilisation, which, as he saw it, was no longer culture, but a mere ‘mummy’. Elias (1939), on the other hand, whose work became popular only after publication of the book’s second edition (1969), had a different viewpoint. He described the influence of mediaeval courts on the common people as processes of disciplining that brought about what he called civilisation. His work was rather descriptive, thus lacking an explanation as to why there were these processes, and it conflicts with information-theory principles; Bogner (1986) and Duerr (1988–2002) were particularly prominent in discussing and also criticising that approach.
