Surname 1Student’s nameInstructor’s nameCourse numberDateProject about Pop-CultureIn order to study and understand pop culture we must first and foremost confront the difficulty posed by the term itself. This is because it is used in quite different ways and are of inquiry and theoretical definition and analytical focus. Popular culture is generally defined as signifying practices that produce meaning, has mass accessibility and appeal. Origin of popular culture can be traced to the creation of middle class generated by the industrial revolution. Popular culture was mostly associated with the poorly educated or the lower class while the official culture which was mostly associated with the well-educated and the upper class citizens. However, …show more content…
6)According to many people who are conversant with popular culture, it has two opposing arguments. One of the argument states that the elite use popular culture to control or have dominance over those below them because it dulls people minds making it easy for them to be controlled. The second arguments is just the opposite of the first argument. It states that popular culture is the vehicle or a tool for rebellion against the culture of dominate groups. Therefore dueto this arguments popular culture mostly seen as inferior culture. Hence one is left wondering who decides or determines which category it falls into. Again one is left wondering who can and
Surname 2who cannot be in any of the category this is because Storey says “to be real culture, it has to be difficult”.In popular culture there are some sub branches from it referred to as sub culture. This subgroups are created by people who feel left out or don’t fit in the society. Most of this sub groups are
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As a result they create there ideology of what and how they feel about the society. It is also believed that popular culture diverts people from what is important and considered beneficiary to the elite. This ideology conceals the reality of domination from those power (Storey 2006). The categorization of what is popular culture and what is classical culture over the years has been onesignificant issue when it comes to ideological practices.Popular culture in pre-modern societies, was integrated and inseparable from day to day life routines. Again culture became commercialized. For instance in modern society the manner in which object are manufactured and the massage the products communicate has not only affected how people view them but also they use them. Again people use this product despite of them having no clue of how they are produced. That is “the negative effects of popular culture were very clear to Walter Benjamin, who argued that mechanical reproduction of arts removes the ‘aura’ from that work. (Kidd, 2007, p. 74).the consequences of this process is that people don’t know or get to learn the traditional way of production of get to learn from those who produced cultural objects.People ability to think independently and critically have been greatly undermined by the introduction of the
The historical study of popular culture is distinct in that it diverges from the elitist perspective that governs much of our reflection on past events. Although, certain groups may face subordination in a given society, that does not imply a deficiency in their cultural achievements. From the Native people of the new world to the uneducated peasants of later years, their inferior social status in society often led their unique cultural practices into relative obscurity; dominant groups were the societal dictators of culture and the practices that future generations would deem as applicable to that time period. However, neglecting outranked cultural practices of past societies deprives historians of a more complete and accurate depiction of past societal realities. Contemporary accounts of early modern popular culture such as works by Ginzburg, Yassif and Bakhtin allow the reader to witness a shift in the earlier Romantic emphasis on the fascination and domination of the subordinate cultures [Herder] to a notion of cultural reciprocity between the elite and popular strata of society.
Pop culture in the 1950s and 1960s began to spread and infest the nation from front to back through radio shows, books and magazines, television programs, and even motion pictures. Whether it is culture in terms of political affairs, clothing or the latest musical sensations, the United States has always played the dominant role when it came to who knows what is best, first. Some cases of Americanizati...
Popular Culture has changed drastically over the decades with the biggest question being whether or not popular culture is a positive or negative expression of our ideas and reflections. American Pop Culture has an extremely important role that influences the United States and around the world. There are countless topics that make up pop culture and it is nearly impossible to name all of them. Some of the topics are Television, Music, Religion, Politics, Arts, Economy, Education, Family roles and structures. Three of the cultures that I believe has changed the most and seems to cause the most controversy are television, music and religion.
American popular culture is quite serious because we find the “voices” that write, play, film, photograph, dance and explain our American history. George Lipitz notes that historians can learn a lot about the process of identity and memory in the past and present by deciphering the messages contained in popular culture forms such as films, television and music. As stated by George Lipsitz, people can either work for the economy and state, and against the population who take in the messages or they can work in a positive way as memories of the past and hopes for the future.
Thus, art itself has become a part of this machinery, and its autonomy, or 'aura', has vanished, or has been replaced by cultural goods and commodified objects (Massumi, 2008). Mass culture creates art with particular ideological character, in direct contrast to the 'art for art's sake' movement, and an original freedom of art. Hence, culture industry is a mass culture with political implications, based on capitalism, the market economy, and a proliferation of low art, with little authenticity within itself, forcing masses into passivity and overt consumerism. Consequently, it embraces 'the compulsive character of a society alienated from itself' (Adorno and Horkheimer, 2002, p.95).
“Culture” is a term that over the years, has taken many forms, served many purposes and has been defined in a variety of contexts. At the rise of the industrial era, inhabitants of rural areas began to migrate to cities, thus starting urbanization. As this new era began to unfold, urbanization, mass production, and modernization became key ingredients in the transformation of culture. As more people became literate and the production of mass media such as magazines, pamphlets, newspapers etc. increased, many had the option and desire to identify collectively – popular culture began to rise. Popular or “mass” culture can be described as a “dynamic, revolutionary force, breaking down the old barriers of class, tradition, taste, and dissolving
Popular Culture. Ed. John Woodward, Farmington Hills, MI: Thompson Gale, 2005. 138-140.
The term ‘popular culture’ is a particularly difficult one to define. The word ‘culture’ alone is, according to Ray Williams, “one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language” (Storey; 2006, 1). Popular culture must also be a term that is equally hard to define. Popular culture is an ambiguous phrase in cultural theory. In its simplest form: popular culture can be seen as the culture of the working class and minority cultures such as; folk and youth culture.(Brooker; 2003).
Strinati, D. (2004). An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture (pp. 52-79). New York, NY USA: Taylor & Francis.
Popular culture comprises of number of elements generally accepted which includes: rapid changes like the current highly technological world brings people together through media. (Delaney, 2017) Popular culture allows various individuals to be identified collectively. It plays significant role in the bringing different people with same interest together alongside the creation of sense of identity which connects individuals to the greater society. Popular culture comes in different forms including: popular music, sports, entertainment, cyber culture, leisure, televisions and advertising. There are various sources of which popular culture is made up of. The principal source of popular culture is the mass media which consist of television, radio, video games, online games, books, internet
The Effects of Popular Culture on Society Popular Culture is music, dance, theatre, film,T.V., poetry and Art which is enjoyed by a wide group of people. Some people would argue that popular culture in the 1960's cause harm. Other people however argued that other factors brought harm and change to society. Some people would argue that music would cause harm because of the lyrics in pop songs. Lyrics like 'Lets spend the night together' by The Rolling Stones, influenced young people to have casual sex.
There are many ways to define popular culture. Many individuals have grappled with the question what is popular culture? And how to critically analyze and deconstruct the meanings. Looking at the root words of popular culture is where to begin. Raymond Williams states ‘popular’ means: “well liked by many people" or “culture actually made for the people themselves (Storey, p.5). This is part with the word ‘culture’ combine to look at how the two words have been connect by theoretical work within social and historical context. John Storey approaches popular culture in six categories, they are as followed: “Popular culture is simply culture that is widely favoured or well liked by many people”, Popular culture is “the culture that is left over after we have decided what is high culture”, Popular culture is “mass culture”, “Popular culture is the culture that originates from ‘the people.” and “Popular culture as a site of struggle
Adorno and Horkheimer’s Culture Industry Argument is based around mass media and mass consumption. As the exchange value of objects increase consumers become obsessed with conforming to the ideal image and judging others if the fit into this mold. Impressions are taken from material possessions rather than personality traits. As capitalism takes control over people minds, the culture industry is turned into a commodity to be mass-produced and sold to masses. These causes can lead to many socio-psychological effects on society. People becoming internalized and not being able to form judgments for themselves as mass media is forcing opinions upon them by not giving the consumer time to reflect before reacting to information. The formation of mass media leads to consumers being manipulated and deceived by the media as information is standardized and a false sense of individualism created.
In the beginning, the relationship between everyday culture and mass media culture are closed but there are some difference between popular culture and traditional culture. The traditional culture is known as ‘high culture’ which refer to literature, art, music etc. However, popular culture is the produced by mass media, may know it as low culture. People used to entertainment or relaxation. It shared and spread rapidly in groups, communities, societies and so on. Some people may say popular culture help us to understand more about the world because of the globalization factor.
Pop culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change” (John Podhoretz). It encompasses the advertisements we see on T.V, the clothes we wear, the music we listen too, and it’s the reason Leonardo DiCaprio has not won an Oscar yet. It defines and dictates the desires and fears of the mainstream members of society; and it is so ingrained into our lives that it has become as natural as breathing. Moreover, adults never even bat an eyelash at all the pop culture and advertising that surrounds them since it has become just another part of everyday life. Pop culture is still somewhat seen as entertainment enjoyed by the lower class members of society; but pop culture standards change over time. A notable example of this is the sixteenth century author, William Shakespeare, since his works were considered pop culture, entertainment that could be enjoyed by everyone, but now they are considered literary classics. While pop culture encompasses most aspects of our lives, its influence is most obvious through each generations reaction to media,