Society and Culture - Popular Culture Notes 2020 PDF

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Society and Culture 2020

Popular Culture Contents Glossary:................................................................................................................ 1 Nature of Popular Culture:..................................................................................... 2 Develops from a local to Global Level.................................................................... 3 Achieves widespread Consumer Access................................................................ 3 Constantly Changing and Evolving........................................................................ 4 Creation and the Development of the Popular Culture..........................................5 The Consumption of the Popular Culture............................................................... 5 The Control of the Popular Culture......................................................................... 5 The Different Perceptions of the Popular Culture...................................................5 The contribution of the Popular Culture to Social Change.....................................5 The Near Future (5-10 years)................................................................................. 5

Glossary: 1. Change → Alteration or modification of cultural elements in a society. Change to society can occur at a micro, meso and macro level. This can occur through the modernisation process such as, technological innovation. This forces the alteration of culture. 2. Commercialisation → Process of adding value to an idea, product, or commodity with the aim of selling it and making a profit. Commercialisation is about preparing the item for sale and making money from it. Success relies on marketing and advertising. 3. Commodification → A social process where an item is turned into a commodity to be traded. The process relies on marketing strategies with the aim of producing a perceived value to the item. 4. Conflict → A perceived incompatibility of goals or actions. Conflict can occur at all levels in society and its resolution can involve modification of what was in place 5. Consumption → The process of selecting and using a product. Consumption involves a conscious decision to engage with a commodity. 6. Continuity → The persistence or consistent existence of cultural elements in a society across time. Continuity can also be referred to as the maintenance of traditions and social structure that maintains stability. 7. Ideology → Organised collection or body of ideas that reflects the beliefs, values and interests of a group, system, institution, or nation. The term refers to the body of doctrine, myth and symbols held by the group that guides individual and group actions. 8. Institutional Power → The power that exists in institutions and how it is used to control aspects of society. Institutions such as family such as family, school, law, and government use inherent power to control, change and maintain continuity of interactions. Page | 1

Society and Culture 2020 9. Values → Deeply held ideas and beliefs that guide our thinking, language, and behaviour. Differences in values exist among groups of people in society and are part of one’s culture. Values can be challenged. Nature of Popular Culture: Pop Culture is a term thought to have been used in the early 19 th century to describe the ‘culture of the people’, the ‘people’ being the lower classes of society who were uneducated and made up the majority of society. There was a distinction between folk culture, high culture, and popular culture. Folk Culture  Centred around geographic areas and cultural groups  Accessibility limited, mainly trough trade and migration  Constant transmission of cultural artefacts and oral histories  Influenced by the physical environment  Not traditionally massed produced E.g. Folk music, fables, Hawaiian Hula 

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High Culture  Culture of the higher economic social class  Access requires some form of background knowledge to enable understanding  Limited Appeal  Consistent traditions are artefacts  Not made for mass commercial consumption E.g. Classical music, ballet, or opera

Popular Culture  Broad Mass Appeal  Accessible to the majority of society  Constantly changing as values that society holds as important change  Reliance on mass communication technologies  Industries driven by profit motive  Social Mobile E.g. Hip Hop, teenage movies, and Anime

Argued that in contemporary society the lines between folk, high and popular culture are increasingly blurred as culture becomes more of a commodity as the greater access of technology Idea of creating a ‘culture for the masses’ was mostly a by-product of the industrial revolution Ability to mass produce led to increased urbanisation, industrialisation, and the emergence of a consumer-driven society

Difference between a Fad, Meme, Trend and Popular Culture  

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Fad – Something that is short lived a ‘craze’ such as, Rubik’s cube A meme according to Richard Dawkins who first coined the phase in 1976 in his book the Selfish Gene – is a unit of culture that spreads from one person to another. He describes a meme as an idea, belief or behaviour that spreads throughout culture. E.g. Catchphrases and urban myths (examples of memes that are transmitted from one generation to the next) A common understanding of a ‘trend’ may relate to fashion e.g. skinny jeans as they are being worn by many people. (However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that skinny jeans is pop culture)

Popular Culture is distinguished by four characteristics: Page | 2

Society and Culture 2020 1. 2. 3. 4.

Associated with commercial products and paraphernalia Develops from local to a global level Achieves widespread consumer access Constantly changing and evolving

Associated with Commercial Products 

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Companies or corporations make a profit from popular culture by marketing and disturbing commercial products and paraphernalia. For example: accessories, clothing, films, magazines, equipment and other forms of paraphernalia Products associated with popular culture allow people to identify with that particular popular culture o E.g. Comics that are made into movies. As such, merchandise is than made for fans which allows people to identify with the range (Marvel/ DC). They adapt by creating new characters that are more suited to the current times. These types of popular culture are continuously evolving to fit societies standard. Otherwise, people will stop engaging with this form of popular culture. – This process of commodification has promoted comics/movies as an identity and a culture. Corporations have been instrumental in this process. The use of media to advertise commercial products and reinforce myths, jargon, beliefs, and values associated with popular culture The media is a key socialising agent The development of social media technology e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter had provided businesses with marketing tools that have contributed to the significant development and expansion of popular culture Businesses are aligning their products with a popular culture in order to increase sales o E.g. Lady Gaga’s 2009 music video for her song ‘Telephone’, in which many products, including Diet Coke, Virgin Mobile, Chevrolet and Polaroid were clearly identified

Develops from a local to Global Level  Popular culture starts at a local level and gains global acceptance through the mass media and the integration of technologies  Globalisation and developments in transport and communication technologies over the past century has led to the increase in trade, migration, and tourism between nations.  The result of expanded contact has led to the spread of Western Values and the English language  Western values related to consumption, such as materialism, and individualism, have laid the foundation of expansion of popular culture  As demand for popular culture has grown, transitional corporations have played a significant role in distributing across the globe e o E.g. K-Pop is a good example of how popular culture can move from a local level to a global level rapidly. K-Pop is a musical genre that Page | 3

Society and Culture 2020 originated in South Korea. In 1997, the ‘Korean Wave’ attempted by the Korean government to rebuild the economy. Which policies aimed at encouraging Korean music producers to export Korean cultural products that had been using American technology and Japanese marketing styles. It had been developed into a global product through the use of social media and marketing strategies. K-Pop heavily relies on social networking, which facilitates worldwide exposure to new music and videos. Achieves widespread Consumer Access  Widespread access beyond Western countries is a key factor in distinguishing popular culture  Consumers of popular culture need to be able to access it effectively or corporations that distribute will not make a profit  To achieve widespread access, popular culture is often formulated by corporations to adapt to a variety of societies so, that it meets the needs of global audience. o E.g. Japanese Anime is an example of this as the popular culture has spread outside Asia and in Western countries as well. It has achieved this by adapting storylines and characters to reflect Western attitudes and values, making Anime more accessible to a Western Market, even creating the larger ‘Western’ eyes of characters  Development of media and communication has changed the way people have access to popular culture o As such, Televisions has been considered as the catalyst for many popular cultures (introduced in the 1950s in Australia – which meant that popular culture could be accessed and controlled)  Media organisations saw this way to sell products and control the direction of popular culture  Communication technologies e.g. radio and television have played a crucial role in consumer access to popular culture.  Internet has played a significant role in increasing consumer exposure to a wide range of popular cultures. o For Example: Consumers can buy tickets to virtual concerts that they watch online at a specified time  Increased access had led to a greater demand for commercial products and growth in the type and availability of products  Celebrities have twitter accounts where fans can access to the latest information at any time  Before the development of popular culture was slow and often limited. It would take longer for associated products to reach the consumer.  Despite, the wider access to popular culture provided by media and communication technologies, factors such as age, class, ethnicity, location and institutional power mean that for some people, access is limited Factors Affecting Access Age

Examples Social media may be difficult for older generations to access because it is not pat of their social environment so, their knowledge is limited Page | 4

Society and Culture 2020 Class Ethnicity Location

Institutional Power

People in low socioeconomic class may not be able to afford concert tickets to the latest concert Reality television may be difficult to understand due to language or cultural barriers Communities that are geographically isolated may not be able to access communication technologies as effectively, particularly if the infrastructure is not in place Some governments place restrictions on the type of music played on the radio and create and enforce censorship laws.

Constantly Changing and Evolving  As a society changes and evolves, so does popular culture.  World events, innovations, and economic and political climates can influence consumer demand  Popular culture’s origin can be traced back over a long period of time, with evidence of its adaptation changing global society o Teen movie of 1950s (Rebel without a cause) were a reflection of society where teenagers had more money and freedom than previous generations and Rock ‘n’ roll was a cause of friction between parents and teenagers  In comparison, to the 1980s was an era of world-dept crises, growing environmentalism and a growing popularity and desire for portable technologies such as electronic games o (The Breakfast Club – 1985) - Reflected the concerns of teenagers of the time  Popular culture is unable to change, evolve or adapt to current circumstances, businesses will no longer make a profit  Values and ideologies within a society, opinions of what is popular can also change o E.g. Denim jeans is an example of popular culture that used to be worn by farmers and miners in the USA for a symbol of equality for people of all socioeconomic classes, ages and nationalities across the globe.

Focus Study:

Creation and the Development of the Popular Culture S The Consumption of the Popular Culture S The Control of the Popular Culture S The Different Perceptions of the Popular Culture S Page | 5

Society and Culture 2020 The contribution of the Popular Culture to Social Change S The Near Future (5-10 years) j

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