popular culture

Examples of popular culture in the following topics:

• High and Low Culture

  • Popular culture studies is the academic discipline studying popular culture from a critical theory perspective.
  • The definition of what constitutes popular culture - and where it falls within high and low culture - is frequently debated.
  • However, this definition of popular culture has the problem that much "high culture" (e.g., television dramatizations of Jane Austen) is also "popular. " "Pop culture" is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what high culture is.
  • A postmodernist approach to popular culture might argue that there is no longer a clear distinction between high culture and popular culture.
  • Discuss the roles of both high culture and popular culture within society

• Fads

  • A fad, also known as a craze, refers to a fashion that becomes popular in a culture (or subcultures) relatively quickly, remains popular, often for a rather brief period, then loses popularity dramatically.

• Culture and Society

  • Popular and indigenous music were not considered part of culture.
  • Popular (or "pop") culture, by contrast, is more mainstream and influenced by mass media and the common opinion.
  • Popular culture tends to change as tastes and opinions change over time, whereas high culture generally stays the same throughout the years.
  • For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture.
  • High culture simply refers to the objects, symbols, norms, values, and beliefs of a particular group of people; popular culture does the same.

• Culture Wars

  • A culture war is a struggle between two sets of conflicting cultural values.
  • Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci presented in the 1920s a theory of cultural hegemony.
  • He stated that a culturally diverse society can be dominated by one class who has a monopoly over the mass media and popular culture, and Gramsci argued for a culture war in which anti-capitalist elements seek to gain a dominant voice in the mass media, education, and other mass institutions.
  • So-called red state/blue state maps have become popular for showing election results.
  • Support the notion of a culture war by giving an example from your own contemporary society

• Defining Culture

  • Culture has evolved drastically as a term and a concept since inception.
  • With this evolution and malleability of culture as a modern idea in mind, it is important to explore the various aspects of culture in society today.
  • As culture is such a central component of human identity, the recognition of the role that culture plays in our daily lives is a critical context which we must be consistently aware:
  • As cultures continue to interact and cross paths with one another, understanding one another via culture minimizes cultural friction while maximizing on the potential synergies inherent in diversity.
  • Outline the various perspectives on the definition and aspects of culture.

• The Jazz Age

  • Jazz music exploded as popular entertainment in the 1920s and brought African-American culture to the white middle class.
  • As the 1920s progressed, Jazz rose in popularity and helped to generate a cultural shift.
  • Big-band Jazz, like that of James Reese in Europe and Fletcher Henderson in New York, was also popular on the radio and brought an African-American style and influence to a predominantly white cultural scene.
  • Although the Jazz era ended as the Great Depression struck and victimized America throughout the 1930s, Jazz has lived on in American popular culture and remains a vibrant musical genre to this day.
  • Cab Calloway became one of the most popular musicians of the Jazz Age in the 1920s.

• Cultural Evolution

  • For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture.
  • In this sense, high culture no longer refers to the idea of being cultured, as all people are cultured.
  • High culture simply refers to the objects, symbols, norms, values, and beliefs of a particular group of people; popular culture refers to the same.
  • Most social scientists today reject the cultured vs. uncultured concept of culture.
  • The result is a belief in cultural relativism, which suggests that there are no "better" or "worse" cultures, just different cultures.

• Animals and Culture

  • Animal culture refers to cultural learning in non-human animals through socially transmitted behaviors.
  • Animal culture refers to cultural learning in non-human animals through socially transmitted behaviors.
  • The question of the existence of culture in non-human societies has been a contentious subject for decades due to the inexistence of a concise definition for culture.
  • One of the first signs of culture in early humans was the use of tools.
  • The subject has become more popular recently, prompting more research in the field.

• Jazz, Blues, and World Music

  • Much of the music that is popular today cannot really be classified as completely Western or Non-Western.
  • Since colonial times, when European cultures came into contact with many Non-Western cultures, musicians on all sides have been experimenting with music that is a blend of "the best of both worlds. " Many musical styles have been invented that mix Western and Non-Western traditions.
  • Perhaps the oldest and most widely popular of these styles are the ones that join European and African musical traditions.
  • Most American popular musics also grew out of this blending of traditions.
  • The term World Music is often used as a catch-all category referring to almost any music with widespread popularity that clearly does not sound like North American popular music.

• Folk and Popular Music

  • The folk music of a culture is the music that is passed down from one generation to the next, often without writing it down.
  • In every culture, children learned and remembered the music that everyone enjoyed the most, and the music that was important to their traditions.
  • In many cultures, pop music has largely replaced folk music as the music that everyone knows.
  • Even the types of music that are considered popular can change quickly.
  • The term pop music can refer to a specific kind of popular music, as in "bubblegum pop".