Based on the discussion so far, we can understand what we call manners.
There are certain manners that you need to master.
Table manners are important for the French cuisine.
There are ways to taste wine and use utensils and a napkin.
This illustration was created by an artist Peter Arkle.
He gave me the permission to use this in this MOOC.
This illustration shows some things that you must do at sushi bars.
Note that this is created for American customers going to sushi bars in the U.S.
The Japanese also talk about these manners equally passionately.
For instance, you need to pick up sushi in this way.
The right way to pick up sushi is to use fingers.
You need to put soy sauce only on the fish
although these days chefs put sauce already on the sushi.
Here are things that you should not do.
You cannot bite the sushi in half and put it back on the plate.
In Japan, we also say that you need to eat sushi immediately after it is served.
Some say you are allowed only three seconds.
We also say that you order lighter whitefish sushi first, and then move into thicker tasting ones.
There are also certain things that you cannot talk about in sushi bars.
These manners make the service more difficult and inaccessible to customers.
Customers are required to have made an effort to acquire the manners
in addition to the cost of paying for the service.
But why is this?
Bourdieu gives us a hint.
Manners are central to the elite taste, which he called taste of liberty.
This taste emphasizes forms over substance.
Manners attest the elites' bodily capabilities.
They can naturally conduct their body in performing complicated manners.
By mastering the manners, they can distinguish themselves.
We often try to find a logical explanation of these manners.
We say that the manners have functional meanings.
It is said that we need to pick up sushi with fingers
because it is so gentle that chopsticks will destroy the fragile shape.
Yet, this kind of functional explanation is missing the point.
Manners are valuable precisely because they betray functional utility.
The logic behind the manners, if any, is quite obscure.
This is because functional utility implies labor and necessity.
As we have already seen, aristocratic value stems from the freedom from necessity and particularly from labor.
So, the aristocracy can claim their high value
precisely because they had the enough wealth to free themselves from the need of labor
and to allow them the time to acquire the manners that have no practical use.
They have the luxury, while ordinary people have to worry about necessity.
Manners are therefore negation of common taste.
Manners were developed for aristocrats in the past and for the bourgeoisie more recently to distinguish themselves from others.
Therefore, when many people have learned particular manners,
these manners are negated as something obsolete.
New manners are developed.
They say, “You are out of fashion. You are tasteless even if you think otherwise."
Given that the manners were originally negation of popular taste,
the manners are now doubly negated.
Sometimes elites adopt manners of popular taste as a way to show their overwhelming discretion.
All of a sudden, the vulgar manners are considered fashionable and sophisticated.
Being able to play such a risky game is a mark of their cultural capability.
In summary, manners are political.
Defining manners is a stake in the struggle.
In the service context, manners are the locus of negotiation of value.
Service providers try to use the manners to show the esoteric nature of their service.
Customers show their mastery of manners to distinguish themselves.