Distinction of Taste Through Hegemony Theory: An Updated Version of Tastes Effect on Social Class Through Television

2525 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Should TV be more diverse

Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, takes a sociological stance on cultural taste and its effect on social class. Bourdieu argues, that taste is closely related to social class and indeed acts as a marker of class. He continues to make claims of how people learn of culture and how certain culture belongs to certain social classes who have the cultural competence to understand it. By investigating the educational system, Bourdieu was able to draw conclusions of how taste should be understood and its influence on cultural consumption. Since Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, was published in 1984 and is based from French culture, it has little real merit on popular culture today and more specifically on television. To truly understand taste and its effects on our society, Antonio Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony is arguably more effective. Presently, society is filled with a large diversity of types of culture and diversity of who consumes certain culture. The television is no exception as the audience has shifted from a strict division in class determining who watches what, to more integration of classes watching television shows. For example, the popular reality television show Duck Dynasty, draws in the biggest audience of any television show today. The show is able to cross boundaries of social class to draw in working-class to upper-class viewers. At the same time, the show promotes classic Christian ideals and therefore universalizing them. The universalizing of certain ideas through negotiations according to Gramsci, is a fundamental premise of Hegemony which holds true in present day television. Furthermore, Bourdieu's concept of how taste m...

... middle of paper ...

...://dtl.unimelb.edu.au/. University of Melbourne, 26 Feb. 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Gitlin, Todd. "Prime Time Ideology: The Hegemonic Process in Television Entertainment." Social Problems 23.3 (1979): 251-66. JSTOR. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. .
Lears, T.J. J. "The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities." The American Historical Review 90.3 (1985): 567-93. JSTOR. Web. 25th Nov. 2013.
Storey, John. Cultural Theory And Popular Culture An Introduction. 5th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2009. Print.
Althusser, Louis. "Ideology and ideological state apparatuses (notes towards an investigation)." The anthropology of the state: A reader (2006): 86-111.
Gurney, Deirdre, and Scott Gurney, prods. Duck Dynasty. A&E. Manhattan, New York, 21 Mar. 2012. Television.

Show More
Related

  • Friday Night Lights Gender Analysis

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    This essay will discuss how national attitudes towards the working-class and the impoverished are represented in American Television. The purpose of this paper is to comprehend that television shows are not solely designed to entertain consumers but also contain a hidden agenda whose task is to protect certain ideological perspectives and therefore constant framing strategies take place. The paper will commence the analysis by discussing how males and females are represented in the television show Friday Night Lights, secondly it will look at the

    Read More

  • Television Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950s

    3211 Words  | 7 Pages

    Tuchman, Gaye. The TV Establishment: Programming for Power and Profit. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., l971.

    Read More

  • Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America by James Davison Hunter

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fiorina, Morris P., Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope. Culture war. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005. Hunter, James. A. James Davison.

    Read More

  • The Usefulness of Structuralism as an Analytical Tool for Uncovering How Meaning is Generated in The Wizard of Oz

    1920 Words  | 4 Pages

    Strinati, Dominic (2003), ‘Structuralism, semiology and popular culture’ (extract), in his An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture: 2nd Ed., London, Routledge, pp. 82-85.

    Read More

  • How the ‘Culture Industry’ had Profound Social Impacts in Society

    2005 Words  | 5 Pages

    Strinati, D. (2004). An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture (pp. 52-79). New York, NY USA: Taylor & Francis.

    Read More

  • Article Review Of Jason Mittell's Television And American Culture

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    Television has always been an industry whose profit has always been gained through ads. But in chapter 2 of Jason Mittell’s book, Television and American Culture, Mittell argues that the rise of the profit-driven advertising television model can be traced back through American television history, and that the rise of the profit-driven advertising model of television actually helped to mold American culture both from a historical standpoint and from a social standpoint.

    Read More

  • Gramsci's Theory of Hegemony

    2347 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kerry Manderback. “Hegemony, Cultural Hegemony, and The Americanization of Imported Media.” Accessed November 28, 2013. http://www.academia.edu/2942539/Hegemony_Cultural_Hegemony_and_The_Americanization_of_Imported_Media.

    Read More

  • Rap Music's Influence Upon Teenagers

    1389 Words  | 3 Pages

    Popular Culture. Ed. John Woodward, Farmington Hills, MI: Thompson Gale, 2005. 138-140.

    Read More

  • Television and Media Effect on the Public

    4844 Words  | 10 Pages

    Television is a vital source from which most Americans receive information. News and media delegates on television have abused theirs powers over society through the airing of appealing news shows that misinform the public. Through literary research and experimentation, it has been proven that people's perception of reality has been altered by the information they receive from such programs. Manipulation, misinterpretation, word arrangement, picture placement and timing are all factors and tricks that play a major role in the case. Research, experimentation, and actual media coverage has pinpointed actual methods used for deceptive advertising. Television influences society in many ways. People are easily swayed to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to thirty years, normal social behavior, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered (Browne 1998). Media has changed with time, along with quality and respectability. Many Americans receive and accept false information that is merely used as an attention grabber that better the show's ratings and popularity. Many magazines and Journal reviews have periodically discussed the "muckraking" that many tabloid shows rely on to draw in their viewers. This involves sensationalizing a story to make it more interesting, therefore increasing the interest of the audience. "Along the way, all sorts of scandalous substance and goofy tricks appear, but not much mystery in the logic," (Garnson 1997). People often know that these shows aim to deceive them, but still accept the information as truth. Many times, people have strong opinions on certain topics. Yet, when they are exposed to the other side of the argument, they may be likely to agree with the opposite view. As Leon Festinger said, "If I chose to do it (or say it), I must believe in it," (Myers 1997). This is an example of Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, which pertains to acting contrary to our beliefs. Television influences many people to change their original beliefs. It has the viewers think that the majority of other people hold the contrary idea. Once these views are presented, people have the option to hol...

    Read More

  • Relation Between Advertising and Our Consumer Culture

    2541 Words  | 6 Pages

    Slater, D. quoted in Bell D. and Hollows J. (2005). Ordinary Lifestyles: Popular Media, Consumption and Taste, Maidenhead: Open University Press, Page 178

    Read More

  • Popular Culture Analysis

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Difference Between Mass Culture And Popular Culture

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    What popular culture and mass culture are, their significance to society and how they are consumed are very multifaceted questions that have been subject to wide debate is the fields of Sociology and Cultural Studies. Many theorists have chimed in on the debate to answer these questions. Two notable theories on this topic are that of Dwight MacDonald in his work “A Theory of Mass Culture” and John Fiske in his work “Popular Culture”. MacDonald argues that mass culture is a phenomenon that is detrimental to society. He believes that although mass culture is something that produced “by and for human beings” that is ultimately is what leads to the loss of individuality and individual thought and expression in favor

    Read More

  • Essay On Popular Culture

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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

    Read More

  • Pop Culture Is A Reflection Of Social Change

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • World Politics: American Hegemony

    2936 Words  | 6 Pages

    In this paper, I will argue that the current system is hegemonial. My explanation to hegemony will then be centered on the sources of the United States as a hegemonial power. Furthermore, I will state the different primary implications associated with the rise of China and what the Roman Empire offers for understanding the United Sta...

    Read More

More about Distinction of Taste Through Hegemony Theory: An Updated Version of Tastes Effect on Social Class Through Television

Open Document