Module 1 Lesson 1: Intro to Pop Culture Popular Culture - Culture widely favored or liked by many people. Left over afer deciding what is high culture. "Mass culture’. Originates from the people. A site of struggle. High Culture - known for its exclusivity and difficulty of access + Popular culture is more accessible. It is mainstream. + How something can be regarded as pop culture depends on the people's perception towards something * Popular culture is more than just a discussion of what counts as entertainment and leisure, It is also a matter of power and politics. + Understanding pop culture involves understanding the concepts of culture and ideology. Lesson 2: Culture and Ideology Raymond Henry Williams (August 31, 1921 - January 26, 1988) - welsh academic novelist and critic. Known for his writings on politics, culture, mass media and literature. His work laid the foundations for the field of cultural studies. The Analysis of Culture (1961) - one of the works of Raymond Henry Williams. It described three general categories in the definition of culture 3 general categories in the definition of culture: * Ideal - culture as a state of process of human perfection, in terms of certain absolute or universal values. * Documentary - culture as the body of intellectual and imaginative work, in which, in a detailed way, human thought and experience are variously recorded. * Social - culture as a description of a particular way of life, which expresses certain meanings and values not only in art and learning but also in institutions and ordinary behavior. Destutt de Tracy - coined the term "idéologie" or ideology in English, in 1796 as a name for his own science of ideas. Ideology was a science, a search for truth through the study of ideas. (Eidlin, 2014) 5 definitions of Ideology 1. Asystematic body of ideas articulated by a particular group of people 2. Acertain masking, distortion or concealment (Karl Marx) 3. Term used to refer to "ideological forms" (Karl Marx) 4. Operates mainly at the level of connotations. the secondary, often unconscious meanings that texts and practices carry, or can be made to carry (Ronald Barthes) 5. Not simply as a body of ideas, but as a material practice (Louis Althusser) Stuart Hall - for him, Popular culture is a site where collective social understandings are created. A terrain on which the politics of signification are played out in attempts to win people to particular ways of seeing the world. (2009) Texts are said to take sides, consciously or unconsciously, in this conflict and can be described as political.Lesson 3: Phillipine Popular Culture: A historical approach Popular culture is dynamic. As time passes, it changes. Doreen G. Fernandez - worked on "Philippine Popular Culture: Dimensions and Directions. The State of Research in Popular Culture" (1981). She described the nature of philippine pop culture in a historical perspective. Some key ideas from her work: * Inthe Ph, the study of pop culture started out from mass communication research + Phpop culture is mass-media generated culture in the Philippines * Different levels of urbanization made access to certain media vary across different places in the country Lesson 4: Classifications of Culture and Framing what is Popular Pop culture is said to be a culture that is left over after we have decided what is high culture High Culture "Real Culture’. -Associated with exclusion that guarantees the exclusivity of its audience. -Expression of the individual artist. Folk Culture - Expression of the people. - Associated with tradition, historical continuity, sense of place and belonging - Culture of the people for the people. Framing Theory - how something is presented to the audience (called "the frame’). Influences the choices people make about how to process that information. Formulated by Erving Goffman in his work "Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience’. Frames - abstractions that work to organize or structure message and meaning. Some examples of issues of showing Framing: 1. Chumboxes - variation on the banner ad which takes the form of a grid of advertisements that sits at the bottom of a web page underneath the main content. Leading Doctor Reveals The $$5 Moneymaking the No. 1 Worst Carb You Secret that Banks Don't ‘Are Eating ‘Want You To Know Your Heart! 2. Clickbait - content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors toclick on a link to a particular web page. en Yo sae Thee 00 Aw Hae Cee, Lesson 5: Cultural Studies and Pop Culture Sources of Pop Culture: 1, Mass Media - Traditional Media and New Media. Can reach a large audience. 2. Leisure/Experience - leisure refers to enjoyment and relaxation while experience refers to events and perceptions. Key ideas of Cultural Studies: + The elite present information through media « Information is influenced and targeted with profit in mind FR. Leavis - culture is not simply a leisure activity. Culture controlled by capitalists are potentially manipulative Lesson 6: Elements of Popular Culture Theory - developed by Roland Barthes. Describes how meanings are formed in particular social and cultural contexts. Myths - developed by societies and cultures Icons - object of veneration. Image known to everyone that draws the viewer into a web of cultural or historical associations. Icon is by definition familiar. (Keleny, G. 2007) Heroic Ideals - culture idea of the "perfect person’. One who embodies the best of all the qualities a culture values Stereotypes - Process of labelling an entire group of people according to the characteristics of some. Formulas - prescribed and more or less invariable way of doing something to achieve a particular end. Lesson 7: Doing Criticism Critique - genre of academic writing that briefly summarizes and critically evaluates a work or concept. Critiques can be used to carefully analyze a variety of works. Variety of works such as: * Creative Works - novels, exhibits, film, images, poetry «Research - monographs, journal articles, systematic reviews, theories Media - news reports, feature articles Writing a critique on a work helps us to develop:A knowledge of the works's subject area or related works Understanding of the work's purpose, intended audience, development of argument, structure of evidence or creative style Recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the work It is important to have a thorough understanding of the work that will be critiqued. Scope of the Critique: Text - Refers to something that sends out a message in a work that is being critiqued. Creator - people behind the production of a movie that is being critiqued, like the directors, writers , or actors. Audience Media Context - can affect the popularity of a media work. Examples include events surrounding the production of a media work, such as controversies affecting those involved in the work, or award nominations received by the work.