Lecture 1

IntroductionTO
Popular
Culture
T h e Ge n e sis o f P opul a
"Pop culture reveals many facets of human behavior
r
throughout history. It is hard to define the human
experience
Culture
without it.”
J
a
y
W
Historical Background and
the Rise of Popular
Culture
16th Century (1501-
1600 )
The Boom of the Printing Press
Although the printing press originally started in the
1400s, it only boomed in 1500s/ 16th century
the start of products of popular culture since
printing presses can “mass produce” written
materials/content that is consumed by many people
18th- 19th Century (1700-
1900 )
Penny Press
The term “popular culture” was coined in the 18th
century. It appeared in an address by Johann Heinrich
Pestalozzi to the British Public
Emerging of “Penny Press”, newspapers were sold for
one cent; things are cheap that nearly everybody can
afford it
1900 )
Urbanization, Industrialization, and Democratization
Rise in urbanization, industrialization, and democratization
Urbanization allowed for materials to spread quickly, because people live in
close quarters/close relation to one another
industrialization-large number of people worked in large buildings, industrial
centers
Democratization- the masses of people have recognized their rights, and that
they demand for equal access to entertainment—which was a privilege before
1900 )
Mass production and Mass Culture
Quicker production and quicker spread of

materials People had time for “entertainment”
1900 )
De-established ELITE/PEASANT model
Threatened traditional elite and folk
culture Elite(high end, traditional,
proper)
Folk (quant, unique,innocent)
Mass- content for
everyone!
1900 ) types of popular culture in the 1800s
Emerging
Newspapers
Dime Novels (magazines with lots of short
stories) Travelling Variety Shows
Photography
Art was supposed to represent what is real, but photography literally
presents the “real” so art goes into a detour to become abstract, which, for the
average person is difficult to understand
College and National sport (became elements of pride and

representation) Dance halls (that play popular music, urban setting)
Early 1900s
Emerging types of popular culture
Rise of music, capturing of music/ recording of

music Comics (in newspapers, then comic books)
Film (capturing of moving
reality) Radio (live or pre-
recorded)
TV (sound and image, captured
reality easily accessed)
2000s- present
Emerging types of popular
culture
Interne
t
Breaking
opular
PDown
Culture
Cultur
e
LET US FIRST DEFINE WHAT CULTURE IS
Cultur
e Culture is considered as “one of the two or three most
complicated words in the English language” (Williams,
1976)
Raymond Williams stated this in his book “Keywords: A

Vocabulary of Culture and Society” for two major
reasons:
Its intricate historical development

Indisputable impact in other systems of
thought
Cultur
e
Williams, 1976
A general process of intellectual, spiritual, and
aesthetic development
A particular way of life, whether of a people, a period,
or a group
Works and practices of intellectual and especially
artistic activity
Cultur
eEdward Tylor, 1871
“Culture ... is that complex whole which includes

knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society.”
Cultur
eFranz Boas (1911)
“Culture may be defined as the totality of the mental and
physical reactions and activities that characterize the behavior
of individuals composing a social group collectively and
individually in relations to their natural environment, to other
groups, to members of the group itself and of each individual to
himself”
Cultur
eJohn Dewey (1916)
“…there is perhaps no better definition of culture than that it is

the capacity for constantly expanding the range and accuracy of
one's perception of meanings.”
Cultur
eRuth Benedict (1934)
“What really binds men together is their culture -- the ideas and
the standards they have in common.”
Cultur
eMargaret Mead (1937)
“Culture means the whole complex of traditional behavior which

has been developed by the human race and is successively
learned by each generation. A culture is less precise. It can
mean the forms of traditional behavior which are characteristics
of a given society, or of a group of societies, or of a certain
race, or of a certain area, or of a certain period of time.”
Cultur
eJames Baldwin (1955)
“Culture was not a community basket weaving project, nor yet

an act of God; being nothing more or less than the recorded
and visible effects on a body of people of the vicissitudes
which they had been forced to deal with.”
Cultur
eMarvin Harris (1983)
“Culture is the learned, socially acquired traditions and lifestyles

of the members of a society, including their patterned, repetitive
ways of thinking, feeling, acting.”
Cultur
eRenato Rosaldo (1989)
“Culture lends significance to human experience by selecting

from and organizing it. It refers broadly to the forms through
which people make sense of their lives, rather than more
narrowly to the opera or art of museums.”
Cultur
eEdward T. Hall (1976)
“Culture is the medium evolved by humans to survive. Nothing is

free from cultural influences. It is the keystone in civilization’s
arch and is the medium through which all of life’s events must
flow. We are culture.”
Cultur
e Common to these given definitions of culture
are:
-Beliefs
-Being transmitted and learned
-Social Groups
-Communication
-Behaviors
-Purpose
-Ideas
-Meanings
Cultur
e
Therefore, culture can be summarized as:
“Culture is the world made meaningful; it is socially
constructed and maintained through communication. It limits
as well as liberates us; it differentiates as well as unites us. It
defines our realities and thereby shapes the ways we think,
feel, and act.”
(Adapted from Baran, 2003)
Ty pes of Cultur
e 1.
High
2. Folk
3.
Popul
ar
High
Culture
Culture is but a natural possession of the upper class
The preferences of the upper class are the best ones there ever will
be Examples:
Folk Culture
Fairy tales, proverbs, songs, and languages that come from the class of
farmers, peasants etal.,
Though as highly cultural as any of those the upper-class think are the best
and essential
ones, folk culture is not really seen as a threat
It is believed that, sooner or later, it would just fade well into the background upon
the arrival of modernization,
Tends to stay near its hearth, lacks diffusion
Example: Native tribal regalia, traditional dances

Folk Culture
popular culture
At the end of the day, though, high and folk culture only represent a very
small percentage of the general population combined
Many are still left somewhere in the middle in some kind of cultural limbo
The activities and pastimes of those who belong in this class, it seems, are seen
to be unworthy of categorization
It was from these questionably cultural predilections that arise the idea of
“popular culture”
popular culture
Framing
POPULA
what is
R
POPULAR
By definition, popular is defined as “liked,
admired, or enjoyed by many people or by a
particular person or group.
Intended for or suited to the taste, understanding,

or means of the general public rather than
specialists or intellectuals
Belief or attitude held by the majority of the

general public
THREE
KINDS OF
POPULAR
1.Inferior due to its availability (available
everywhere, therefore losing its value)
2. Intentionally seeking attention
(trying to achieve popularity)
3. Liked by a lot of
people

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IntroductionTO

Quicker production and quicker spread of

College and National sport (became elements of pride and

Rise of music, capturing of music/ recording of

Raymond Williams stated this in his book “Keywords: A

Its intricate historical development

“Culture ... is that complex whole which includes

“…there is perhaps no better definition of culture than that it is

“Culture means the whole complex of traditional behavior which

“Culture was not a community basket weaving project, nor yet

“Culture is the learned, socially acquired traditions and lifestyles

“Culture lends significance to human experience by selecting

“Culture is the medium evolved by humans to survive. Nothing is

Example: Native tribal regalia, traditional dances

Intended for or suited to the taste, understanding,

Belief or attitude held by the majority of the

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