Bourdieu Cultural Capital

Within the fields, it is where Bourdieu argues similarly to Csikszentmihalyi that there is a need for accumulation of capitals for an individual makes cultural production possible. Under Bourdieu’s concept of capital that will affect the process of cultural production of an individual, social capital, economic capital, symbolic capital, and cultural capital are the four main types of capital that he recognises. Under circumstances, social capital and cultural capital can be converted into economic capital which can be transformed into cash or property rights.

Cultural capital in Bourdieu’s concept may come in forms of qualifications, the competency and the knowledge accumulated by being immersed in the field of works. (Bourdieu, 1986) Cultural

The ability in language, such as dialects and accents, is a form of embodied cultural capital as it can be accomplished over time whether consciously through practice or passively through surrounding cultures of individual. (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990) Collections of films and albums are examples of objectified state of cultural capital. When an individual receives awards or certain education qualifications that represents the individual’s competency, it is the institutionalised form of cultural capital. An individual must have the cultural competency to see that meaning within the creative product of culture. (Bourdieu, 1993) Hence, cultural capital acts as an important part for an individual in the process of producing creative cultural production. By possessing such cultural capital that are often obtained through being immersed in the field of works by an individual is essential as they are influences accumulated over time that will eventually affect the creative process when producing cultural production. (McIntyre & Paton,

Chow immersed himself into the domain of the film industry and was able to understand how that system works. He received most awards and recognition from the field for his fifth film that he directed, Kung Fu Hustle. The domain provided Chow the knowledge and skills that he needed to accumulate and he was able to contribute such cultural productions with his own signature and trademarks that the field recognises as creative. After the film that he directed was released in the first week, Kung Fu Hustle grossed $37.7 million. (Sun, 2005) It was successful internationally even though most of his signatures are usually easier to be understood by people in the Asia as those references are mostly from the Asian culture. He was able to produce cultural products that are creative and accepted by the field suggested by both Csikszentmihalyi and Bourdieu. In this sense, the systems model of creativity proves to function in a circular mode as well as the importance for individuals to accumulate various