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Class notes on critical cultural theory ...

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Critical Cultural Theory Why and when media decide to cover certain movements and cultural events   

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Culture  learned behaviors of members in a given social group Mass media effecting because of technological advancement Two areas of scholarship: o Microscopic interpretive theories  individuals and social groups use media to create and foster forms of culture that structure everyday life  Researchers concerned with how media affects people who share a culture  Emphasize questions involving everyday life  How media is incorporated into everyday life o Macroscopic structural theories  how media institutions are structured within capitalist economies (broad perspectives)  More concerned with how the entire social order is affected and long-term consequences of such effects  Media turns culture into commodity and sells for a profit Hegemonic culture – culture imposed from above or outside that served the interests of those in dominant social positions o Not a direct effect/powerful effect (like media effects) – how this is teaching you/reminding you that what culture and society is about, what you can expect  Critical cultural looks at the deeper lesson that society/culture is teaching  We are perpetuating in our behaviors, etc. because that is what we know

Political Economy Theory – macroscopic view – focuses on social elites’ use of economic power to exploit media institution o Elite control of economic institutions affect other institutions including the mass media o Focus on how the processes of content production and distribution are economically and industrially constrained o Commodities have two features:  Exchange value  is it worth something that can be exchanged in the marketplace?  Use value  does it generate meaning?

Critical Theory  seek social change that will implement their values o Provides alternative ways of interpreting the social role of mass media o Few incentives exist to encourage media to challenge authority/status quo and practitioners fail to acknowledge these constraints o Mass media is linked to mass culture and can aggravate or prevent the solving of societal problems o Larger lesson for society – in relation to example of protestors

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Protestors outside the mainstream, not behaving like all the “good” members of society

Grand Social Theories  macroscopic speculative theories – popular in Europe o Ex: Marxist Theory  hierarchical class system is the root of all social problems that must be ended by a revolution of a proletariat  Complicit in your own subjection o Americans tended to prefer more limited theories Humanist Criticism  identified texts with greatest cultural value and south to use them as a civilizing force (art, plays, etc.)  used to encourage more civilized behavior o Frankfurt School British Cultural Studies  shifted the study of elite cultural artifacts to how the media is used by minority groups to enhance their lives o how high culture affects minority groups o pluralistic public forum – media provides a place where media can be challenged o Stuart Hall  representation – how groups are represented

Structuralist View  elites control superstructure through repressive apparatuses  

The more you see this pushed, the more police presence If opinion changes at all, it’s because the state allowed it too

Culturalist View  culture is a site of social struggle and a place where change occurs

Why do some forms of culture dominate TV while other forms are absent?    

Showing people what’s normal  cultural norms Teaching lessons Aspirational Reflect reality of social elites

Cultural Studies vs. Political Economy Theories:  

PE = macroscopic thought; slow to acknowledge that cultural changes can affect economic institutions; criticized privatization of media CS = tend to ignore larger social and political contexts; skeptical that elites can promote hegemonic forms of culture; criticized for abandoning historic mission of critical theory in favor of an uncritical celebration of popular culture

James Carey  American proponent of cultural studies

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Found that media effects theories focused on transmission of info from source to receiver, while cultural theories are concerned with rituals that shape personal experiences o Transmissional  mass comm. merely the process of transmitting message from a distance for the purpose of control (limited effects) o Ritual – mass comm. as the representation of shared belief where reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed

Popular culture theories  give much more respect to average people than mass society and limited effects; suggest individuals take personal meaning from content

Discussion Questions:  

How do people use media? Popular media is ambiguous so it can appeal to a broader audience. Do you agree with this statement? Yes. Depending on who is watching or reading the media element, people take different things from the content

Critical Feminist Scholarship    

Adopted Carey’s ritual perspective Long history of systematic sexism motivated research Focused attention on larger social and economic structures o Link between degrading of women and capitalistic functions Based on psychoanalytic theory

New Media and Culture 

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Marshall McLuhan (McLuhanism) o Medium is the message  new forms of media transform our experiences of ourselves and our society, and this influence is ultimately more important than the content of specific messages o Global village  new form of social organization brought about by new media o The extensions of the man  media extend sight hearing and touch through time and space o Radical thinker when it comes to the media Harold Innis...