Popular culture 1

Popular culture
Popular culture (commonly known as pop culture) is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes,[1] images
and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture,
especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the late 20th and
early 21st century. Heavily influenced by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the
society.
Popular culture is often seen as being trivial and dumbed-down in order to find consensual acceptance throughout the
mainstream. As a result, it comes under heavy criticism from various non-mainstream sources (most notably
religious groups and countercultural groups) that deem it superficial, consumerist, sensationalist, and corrupted.[2] [3]
[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

The term "popular culture" itself is of 19th century coinage, in original usage referring to the education and
"culturedness" of the lower classes, as was delivered in an address at the Birmingham Town Hall, England.[11] The
term began to assume the meaning of a culture of the lower classes separate from and opposed to "true education"
towards the end of the century,[12] a usage that became established by the interbellum period.[13] The current
meaning of the term, culture for mass consumption, especially originating in the United States, is established by the
end of World War II.[14] The abbreviated form "pop culture" dates to the 1960s.[15]

Definitions
Defining 'popular' and 'culture', which are essentially contested concepts, is complicated with multiple competing
definitions of popular culture. John Storey, in Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, discusses six definitions. The
quantitative definition of culture has the problem that much "high culture" (e.g. television dramatizations of Jane
Austen) is widely favoured. "Pop culture" is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what
high culture is. However, many works straddle or cross the boundaries, e.g. Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
Storey draws attention to the forces and relations which sustain this difference such as the educational system.
A third definition equates pop culture with Mass Culture. This is seen as a commercial culture, mass produced for
mass consumption. From a Western European perspective, this may be compared to an American pinnese culture.
Alternatively, "pop culture" can be defined as an "authentic" culture of the people, but this can be problematic
because there are many ways of defining the "people." Storey argues that there is a political dimension to popular
culture; neo-Gramscian hegemony theory "... sees popular culture as a site of struggle between the 'resistance' of
subordinate groups in society and the forces of 'incorporation' operating in the interests of dominant groups in
society." A postmodernism approach to popular culture would "no longer recognize the distinction between high and
popular culture'
Storey emphasizes that popular culture emerges from the urbanization of the industrial revolution, which identifies
the term with the usual definitions of 'mass culture'. Studies of Shakespeare (by Weimann, Barber or Bristol, for
example) locate much of the characteristic vitality of his drama in its participation in Renaissance popular culture,
while contemporary practitioners like Dario Fo and John McGrath use popular culture in its Gramscian sense that
includes ancient folk traditions (the commedia dell'arte for example).
Popular culture changes constantly and occurs uniquely in place and time. It forms currents and eddies, and
represents a complex of mutually interdependent perspectives and values that influence society and its institutions in
various ways. For example, certain currents of pop culture may originate from, (or diverge into) a subculture,
representing perspectives with which the mainstream popular culture has only limited familiarity. Items of popular
culture most typically appeal to a broad spectrum of the public.
Popular culture 2

Institutional propagation
Popular culture and the mass media have a symbiotic relationship: each depends on the other in an intimate
collaboration."
—K. Turner (1984), p.4[16]
The news media mines the work of scientists and scholars and conveys it to the general public, often emphasizing
elements that have inherent appeal or the power to amaze. For instance, giant pandas (a species in remote Chinese
woodlands) have become well-known items of popular culture; parasitic worms, though of greater practical
importance, have not. Both scholarly facts and news stories get modified through popular transmission, often to the
point of outright falsehoods.
Hannah Arendt's 1961 essay "The Crisis in Culture" suggested that a "market-driven media would lead to the
displacement of culture by the dictates of entertainment."[17] Susan Sontag argues that in our culture, the most
"...intelligible, persuasive values are [increasingly] drawn from the entertainment industries", which is "undermining
of standards of seriousness." As a result, "tepid, the glib, and the senselessly cruel" topics are becoming the norm.[17]
Some critics argue that popular culture is “dumbing down”: "...newspapers that once ran foreign news now feature
celebrity gossip, pictures of scantily dressed young ladies...television has replaced high-quality drama with
gardening, cookery, and other “lifestyle” programmes...[and] reality TV and asinine soaps," to the point that people
are constantly immersed in trivia about celebrity culture.[17]
In Rosenberg and White's book Mass Culture, MacDonald argues that "Popular culture is a debased, trivial culture
that voids both the deep realities (sex, death, failure, tragedy) and also the simple spontaneous pleasures. . . . The
masses, debauched by several generations of this sort of thing, in turn come to demand trivial and comfortable
cultural products."[17] Van den Haag argues that "...all mass media in the end alienate people from personal
experience and though appearing to offset it, intensify their moral isolation from each other, from reality and from
themselves."[17] [18]
Critics have lamented the "... replacement of high art and authentic folk culture by tasteless industrialised artefacts
produced on a mass scale in order to satisfy the lowest common denominator."[17] This "mass culture emerged after
the Second World War and have led to the concentration of mass-culture power in ever larger global media
conglomerates." The popular press decreased the amount of news or information and replaced it with entertainment
or titillation that reinforces "... fears, prejudice, scapegoating processes, paranoia, and aggression."[17]
Critics of television and film have argued that the quality of TV output has been diluted as stations relentlessly
pursue "populism and ratings" by focusing on the "glitzy, the superficial, and the popular." In film, "Hollywood
culture and values" are increasingly dominating film production in other countries. Hollywood films are routinely
formulaic, and pinnese emphasize "...shock-value and superficial thrill[s]" and the use of special effects, with themes
that focus on the "...basic instincts of aggression, revenge, violence, [and] greed." The plots "...often seem simplistic,
a standardized template taken from the shelf, and dialogue is minimal." The "characters are shallow and
unconvincing, the dialogue is also simple, unreal, and badly constructed."[17]
Popular culture 3

Folklore
Adaptations based on traditional folklore provide a source of popular culture.[19] This earlier layer of cultural
mainstream still persists today, in a form separate from mass-produced popular culture, propagating by word of
mouth rather than via mass media, e.g. in the form of jokes or urban legend. With the widespread use of the Internet
from the 1990s, the distinction between mass media and word-of-mouth has become blurred.
Although the folkloric element of popular culture engages heavily with the commercial element, the public has its
own tastes and it may not embrace every cultural item sold. Moreover, beliefs and opinions about the products of
commercial culture spread by word-of-mouth, and become modified in the process in the same manner that folklore
evolves.

Self reference
Owing to the pervasive and increasingly interconnected nature of popular culture, especially its intermingling of
complementary distribution sources, some cultural anthropologists, literary, and cultural critics have identified a
large amount of intertextuality in popular culture's portrayals of itself. One commentator has suggested this
self-referentiality reflects the advancing encroachment of popular culture into every realm of collective experience.
"Instead of referring to the real world, much media output devotes itself to referring to other images, other narratives;
self-referentiality is all-embracing, although it is rarely taken account of."[20] Furthermore, the commentary on the
intertextuality and its self referential nature has itself become the subject of self referential and recursive
commentary.
Many cultural critics have dismissed this as merely a symptom or side-effect of mass consumerism; however,
alternate explanations and critique have also been offered. One critic asserts that it reflects a fundamental paradox:
the increase in technological and cultural sophistication, combined with an increase in superficiality and
dehumanization.[21]
According to television studies scholars specializing in quality television, such as Kristin Thompson,
self-referentiality in mainstream American television (especially comedy) reflects and exemplifies the type of
progression characterized previously. Thompson[22] argues shows such as The Simpsons use a "...flurry of cultural
references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions
and the status of the programme as a television show."[23] Extreme examples approach a kind of thematic infinite
regress wherein distinctions between art and life, commerce and critique, ridicule and homage become intractably
blurred.[21]
Long-running television series The Simpsons routinely alludes to mainstream media properties, as well as the
commercial content of the show itself. In the episode Bart vs. Thanksgiving, Bart complains about the crass
commercialism of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while watching television. When he turns his head away
from the television, the screen shows an oversized inflatable balloon of Bart Simpson floating past.

Notes
[1] "Memes in popular culture". Oracle Thinkquest.
[2] "Teens for Jesus want wholesome pop culture" (http:/ / www. auburnpub. com/ articles/ 2008/ 02/ 15/ lake_life/ lakelife05. txt).
AuburnPub.com. 2008-02-15. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[3] "truthXchange Articles - Spirit Wars in the Third Millennium" (http:/ / www. truthxchange. com/ article/ spirit-wars-in-the-third-millennium/
). Truthxchange.com. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[4] Darrell L. Bock and Daniel B. Wallace. "Rebecca's Reads - Darrell L. Bock & Daniel B. Wallace - Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular
Culture's Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ" (http:/ / www. rebeccasreads. com/ Reviews/ ReviewBockDethroningJesus. html).
Rebeccasreads.com. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[5] "Calvin College: Calvin News" (http:/ / www. calvin. edu/ news/ 2000-01/ eyes. htm). Calvin.edu. 2001-03-15. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[6] "7 Things From Pop Culture That Apparently Piss Jesus Off" (http:/ / www. cracked. com/
article_16619_7-things-from-pop-culture-that-apparently-piss-jesus-off. html). Cracked.com. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
Popular culture 4

[7] "Christotainment: Selling Jesus Through Popular Culture: Steinberg shirley R. : 9780813344058 : Book" (http:/ / www. ecampus. com/ book/
9780813344058). eCampus.com. 2009-02-21. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[8] Tucker, Austin B.. "Christian Living In A Pagan Culture" (http:/ / www. preaching. com/ resources/ from_the_lectionary/ 11550972/ ).
Preaching.com. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[9] "Book Review- Jesus Made in America – Irish Calvinist" (http:/ / www. irishcalvinist. com/ ?p=1841). Irishcalvinist.com. 2008-10-14. .
Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[10] "Japan’s increasingly superficial pop culture? | Bateszi Anime Blog" (http:/ / bateszi. animeuknews. net/ 2007/ 01/ 18/
japans-increasingly-superficial-pop-culture/ ). Bateszi.animeuknews.net. 2007-01-18. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[11] Per Adam Siljeström, The educational institutions of the United States, their character and organization, J. Chapman, 1853, p. 243:
"Influence of European emigration on the state of civilization in the United States: Statistics of popular culture in America". John Morley
presented an address On Popular Culture at the town hall of Birmingham in 1876, dealing with the education of the lower classes.
[12] "Learning is dishonored when she stoops to attract," cited in a section "Popular Culture and True Education" in University extension, Issue
4, The American society for the extension of university teaching, 1894.
[13] e.g. "the making of popular culture plays [in post-revolutionary Russian theater]", Huntly Carter, The new spirit in the Russian theatre,
1917-28: And a sketch of the Russian kinema and radio, 1919-28, showing the new communal relationship between the three, Ayer
Publishing, 1929, p. 166.
[14] "one look at the sheer mass and volume of what we euphemistically call our popular culture suffices", from Winthrop Sargeant, 'In Defense
of the High-Brow', an article from LIFE magazine, 11 April 1949, p. 102.
[15] Gloria Steinem, 'Outs of pop culture', LIFE magazine, 20 August 1965, p. 73.
[16] Shuker, Roy (1994). Understanding Popular Music, p.4. ISBN 0-415-10723-7.
[17] "Dumbing down" (http:/ / nomuzak. co. uk/ dumbing_down. html). Nomuzak.co.uk. . Retrieved 2009-06-21.
[18] Van den Haag, in Rosenberg and White, Mass Culture, p. 529.
[19] On the Ambiguity of the Three Wise Monkeys A. W. Smith Folklore, Vol. 104, No. 1/2 (1993), pp. 144-150
[20] McRobbie, Angela (1994). Postmodernism and Popular Culture. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-07712-5. Cultural anthropologist and feminist
discourse on cultural studies.
[21] Dumain, Ralph. "Cultural Sophistication and Self-Reference On American Television" (http:/ / www. autodidactproject. org/ my/ northexp.
html). . Retrieved 2007-04-22. An essay on self-referentiality and American television.
[22] She is the author of Storytelling in Film and Television. Her other publications include Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding
Classical Narrative Technique (Harvard University Press, November 1999); Breaking the Glass Armor: Neoformalist Film Analysis
(Princeton University Press, August 1988); and, as a co-author with David Bordwell; Film Art: An Introduction (McGraw-Hill College,
January 2003); Film History: An Introduction (McGraw-Hill College, August 2002)
[23] Jeoff King. "New Hollywood Cinema" (http:/ / www. kamera. co. uk/ books/ new_hollywood_cinema. html). kamera.co.uk. . Retrieved
October 1, 2010.

References
• Ashby, LeRoy. "The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch," OAH Magazine of History, 24
(April 2010), 11–14.
• Ashby, LeRoy. With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture since 1830 (2006)
• Bakhtin, M. M. and Michael Holquist, Vadim Liapunov, Kenneth Brostrom. (1981) The Dialogic Imagination:
Four Essays (http://www.splinteredlightbooks.com/cgi-bin/slb/5072.html) (University of Texas Press Slavic
Series). Ed. Michael Holquist. Trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin and London: University of
Texas Press.
• Browne, Ray B. and Pat Browne, eds. The Guide to U.S. Popular Culture (2001), 1010 pages; essays by experts
on many topics
• Burke, Peter. "Popular Culture Reconsidered," Storia della Storiografia 1990, Issue 17, pp 40–49
• Freitag, Sandria B. "Popular Culture in the Rewriting of History: An Essay in Comparative History and
Historiography," Peasant Studies, 1989, Vol. 16 Issue 3, pp 169–198,
• Gerson, Stéphane. "'A World of Their Own': Searching for Popular Culture in the French Countryside," French
Politics, Culture and Society, Summer 2009, Vol. 27 Issue 2, pp 94–110
• Griffin, Emma. "Popular Culture in Industrializing England," Historical Journal, Sept 2002, Vol. 45 Issue 3, pp
619–35
• Hassabian, Anahid (1999). "Popular", Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture, eds.: Horner, Bruce and Swiss,
Thomas. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-21263-9.
Popular culture 5

• Seabrook, John. NoBrow : the culture of marketing the marketing of culture, New York: A.A. Knopf, 2000. ISBN
0-375-40504-6
• Storey, John (2006). Cultural theory and popular culture. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-13-197068-7
Article Sources and Contributors 6

Article Sources and Contributors

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AmiDaniel, Andycjp, Animum, Antmusic, Antoids, Antoncampos, AntonioMartin, Aquarius Rising, Aquillion, Arcarius, Arm, Arthur Rubin, Awbuckley, Axeman89, B, BELETRIS, BMF81,
Babbage, Backtable, Barticus88, Beetstra, BenTrotsky, Benc, Benplowman, Bjf, Bletch, Blim8183, BlueFrail, Bobo192, Bongwarrior, Boothy443, Bov, Brandon, Brian0918, Brossow, Burck,
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