From Culture...To Pop Culture

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Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols,

constituting the distinctive achievements of humangroups, including their embodiments in artifacts; theessential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e.,historically derived and selected) ideas [beliefs] andespecially their attached values; culture systems may,on the one hand, be considered as products of action,on the other, as conditioning elements of furtheraction.from The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts , Lisa McIntyre.

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Patterns of behavior?

Symbols?Ideas, beliefs, values?

Yes, these are all important, but most of allremember:

culture is not only a product of human action, but also conditions human action

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Unfortunately, almost everything:

What we say, write, do, act, make, destroy, believe, ...

That’s why we’re like sh in water when it comesto culture.

But sometimes we get a grasp on it when we seehow it differs across societies

For example, what happened in 1492?

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At a formal dinner party, begin eating with the fork that is furthest from theplate.

Do not pick your nose in public.

Eat jello with a spoon, not your ngers.

Do not sneeze on someone else’s hamburger.

The highest position in the Hell’s Angels National Organization is President.

π =3.1416

An opera is a drama set to music in which the words are sung

“Ring around the Rosie, pocket full of posies, Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down!”

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Culture becomes a tool in reproducing social class

within a system of stratication, primarily throughthe distinction between “high” and “low” culture.

Cultural capital includes the knowledge, skills,education, and advantages that a person has andthat can be used to negotiate their position withinthe system of stratication.

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High involves a level of art considered to have asuperior value, socially and aesthetically

Low implies a level considered inferior

Pop culture has been instrumental in blurringthese distinctions

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Pop culture emerged as a product of capitalist/industrial societies when goods began to be mass-produced, people had more leisure time, and moreexpendable income.

Pop Culture stands apart from other culture because it is by the people and for the people

Rejects the supremacy of tradition, past culturalpractices, and pretensions of intellectualisttendencies inherent in contemporary traditionalculture

It is populist, popular and public

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Pop culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives,attitudes, m emes, images and other phenomenathat are deemed preferred per an informa lconsensus with in the mainstream of a gi venculture . .. Heavily inuenced by mass me dia, thiscollection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the society.

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References to highest level of the hierarchy as wellas trendy movies;

This admixture of styles is called bricolage orsimply collage.

Therefore pop culture isn’t a bastard culture but aneclectic one that draws on a variety of inspiration.

It breaks down cultural distinctions

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If culture is not only a product of human action, but also conditions human action;

Then...

How does pop culture condition human action?

What societal purpose does pop culture serve?

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Pop culture may be a means of overcoming thecontrolling interests of the socially powerful whohave historically used culture to maintain classdistinctions and limit class mobility (even when

economic growth moves individuals up in economicclass)

Accepting this hypothesis requires evidence that pop

culture is democratic, grassroots, a product of themasses.

But is it?

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LeastDemo-cratic

MostDemo-cratic

1800s 1900s 2000s