HUM080 Module 1 - Lesson 1 Introduction to Popular Culture
Summary
TLDRThis lecture explores various definitions of popular culture, emphasizing its widespread appeal and accessibility. It contrasts popular culture with high culture, highlighting the latter's exclusivity and inaccessibility. Popular culture is characterized by its mass appeal, originating from the people, and its role as a site of struggle involving power dynamics and social influence. The lecture promises to delve deeper into these aspects, particularly the relationship between culture and ideology.
Takeaways
- đ Popular culture is widely favored or liked by many people and includes various forms of media, shows, and stories.
- đ High culture, such as opera, is exclusive and less accessible compared to popular culture, which is more widely available and affordable.
- đ Popular culture is often considered mass culture, designed to appeal to a broad audience through accessibility and mass media platforms like television and streaming services.
- đ„ It originates from the people, showcasing their creativity, artistic talents, and other abilities, and is influenced by public opinion and feedback.
- đš Popular culture is not just entertainment; it can also be a site of struggle involving power dynamics, social influence, and politics.
- đș Popular culture icons are often associated with positive reception and are well-liked by the public, becoming widely recognized.
- đ€ Examples of popular culture include television series, music genres like rock and K-pop, and various forms of media that are easily consumable.
- đïž High culture is often sophisticated and not affordable for many, making it less popular in comparison to more accessible popular culture.
- đ The popularity of cultural elements is determined by people's engagement and the ease with which they can access and enjoy these cultural products.
- đ Future lessons will explore the relationship between popular culture and ideology, further examining the role of power and politics in shaping cultural content.
Q & A
What is popular culture?
-Popular culture is a concept that can be described in various ways, but it generally refers to a culture widely favored or liked by many people, considered as mass culture, originating from the people, and can also be a site of struggle.
How is popular culture defined in terms of its reception?
-Popular culture is defined by its positive reception and being well liked by a large number of people, making it widely known and liked.
What is the difference between popular culture and high culture?
-High culture is characterized by its exclusivity and difficulty of access, often being sophisticated and not affordable by many, while popular culture is more accessible, affordable, and not exclusive in nature.
Can you provide an example of high culture?
-Opera is a common example of high culture, known for its exclusivity and the fact that it is expensive and not commonly accessible.
How does popular culture differ from high culture in terms of accessibility?
-Popular culture is more accessible and affordable compared to high culture, with examples like rock music or K-pop being widely available and easier to engage with than opera.
What is meant by popular culture having 'mass appeal'?
-Popular culture is designed to be likable to as many people as possible, being accessible and easy to get into, which contributes to its mass appeal.
How does the origin of popular culture relate to the people?
-Popular culture originates from the people, showcasing their efforts, creativity, artistic talents, and other abilities through various media works, books, video games, shows, and more.
Why is it important to appreciate popular culture?
-It is important to appreciate popular culture because it represents the effort and creativity of the people behind the works, and it also reflects people's perceptions and feedback.
How can popular culture be a site of struggle?
-Popular culture can be a site of struggle because it involves power dynamics and social influence, with different motives behind the creation and dissemination of popular media works.
What role do people play in determining the popularity of something?
-People play a crucial role in determining the popularity of something in popular culture by giving opinions and feedback, and their engagement is necessary to identify something as popular.
What are some examples of popular culture mentioned in the script?
-Examples of popular culture mentioned include television series, celebrities hosting segments, internet content, video games, music, and printed materials.
Outlines
đ Understanding Popular Culture
The lecture begins with an exploration of popular culture, emphasizing its multifaceted nature. Popular culture is defined as widely favored or liked by many, often associated with positive reception. It includes major works in various media forms such as television, the internet, video games, and music. The lecture notes that not all cultural elements become popular; it requires a significant number of people to like them. Examples of popular culture icons are discussed, highlighting their accessibility and appeal to the masses, contrasting with high culture, which is characterized by exclusivity and limited accessibility, such as opera.
đ The Dynamics of Popular and High Culture
The second paragraph delves into the concept of popular culture as a residual category, contrasting it with high culture. High culture is described as sophisticated and less accessible, with opera serving as a prime example. Popular culture, in contrast, is more accessible and affordable, exemplified by genres like rock music and K-pop. The lecture discusses the mass appeal of popular culture, its design to be likable to as many people as possible, and the ease of access contributing to its popularity. The paragraph also touches on the origins of popular culture, emphasizing the creative efforts of people behind media works and the importance of public engagement in determining popularity. It concludes by hinting at the complex interplay of power, politics, and social influence within popular culture, which will be further explored in future lessons.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄPopular Culture
đĄHigh Culture
đĄMass Appeal
đĄAccessibility
đĄIconic
đĄOriginates from the People
đĄSite of Struggle
đĄMedia Works
đĄCultural Products
đĄEngagement
đĄPower Dynamics
Highlights
Popular culture is defined as a culture widely favored or liked by many people.
Popular culture can be seen as what remains after distinguishing high culture.
High culture is characterized by exclusivity and difficulty of access, contrasting with popular culture's accessibility.
Popular culture is considered mass culture with broad appeal designed to be likable to as many people as possible.
Popular culture originates from the people, showcasing their creativity and artistic talents.
Popular culture is not exclusive and is easy to engage with, unlike high culture which is often expensive and less common.
Examples of popular culture include television series, music, video games, and internet media.
Popular culture icons are often associated with positive reception and are well-liked by the masses.
The struggle for popularity in popular culture involves people's opinions and feedback, which are crucial for something to become iconic.
Popular culture is more than just entertainment; it can also involve power dynamics and social influence.
The concept of popular culture will be further explored in future lessons, particularly in relation to culture and ideology.
Popular culture is a site of struggle, indicating that it's not merely about leisure but also about power and politics.
Accessibility is a key factor in what makes something part of popular culture, as it needs to be easy to consume.
The contrast between high culture, like opera, and popular culture, like rock music or K-pop, illustrates the difference in accessibility and cost.
Popular culture's mass appeal is achieved through its design to be as likable as possible to a broad audience.
The people behind popular culture, such as creators and performers, play a significant role in shaping its content and appeal.
Transcripts
hello everyone in this lecture we will
discuss about the different definitions
of popular culture
popular culture is a concept that can be
described in many ways but for this
lecture we'll be focusing on the
following definitions popular culture
can be defined as a culture widely
favorite or like by many people it can
also be defined as a culture left over
after we have decided what is high
culture it is also a culture considered
as a quote-unquote mass culture it is
also a culture that originates from the
people and it can also be described as a
site of struggle so let's discuss these
definitions in detail in the next few
slides
for the first definition popular culture
is a culture widely favored or liked by
many people
from the word itself popular culture it
means that it is something that is
indeed well known now usually there are
certain things to consider about things
in popular culture there are indeed many
major Works shows stories movies films
or other video works in general there
can be so many of those kinds of things
but only a few
are actually considered as something
that you'd often call answer popular
culture icon the idea here is that for
something that to be considered as part
of popular culture it is often
associated with being well liked so
there's a positive reception as well or
a positive opinion from people as well
so the reason why it's also popular is
basically because many people like that
so for example you can see this as an
example in
in the television like in teleseries in
theories in general
from non-tang shows for example they
utilize different celebrities for their
shows for hosting the segments in their
shoes you can also see popular culture
in different Technologies as well like
in the internet in video games in total
media and of course other media forms as
well also have popular culture like in
music can also be printed materials so
basically there can be many different
sources of popular culture but not all
of these actually become automatically
very popular and iconic it takes a lot
for something to become popular and
iconic and usually what is attributed to
that is that many people should actually
like that thing in the first place
let's move on to the second definition
of popular culture
popular culture is a culture left over
after we have decided what is high
culture now what is the so-called High
culture anime High culture is something
known for its exclusivity and difficulty
of access and it's basically the
opposite of popular culture which is
considered as more accessible but what
do we mean by being accessible are not
difficult to access
now when you're talking about high
culture this is usually regarded as
something that's sophisticated or high
level
and not many people could actually
afford to go or to Avail of this kind of
thing in high quarter a good example or
a common example of this one would be
opera The Art of Opera
now we know that Opera is usually very
very expensive it's also not very
commonly done and oftentimes uh you see
this one more in other countries and
here in the Philippines and the general
idea about this one is that it's
basically so high-end that not many
people can afford it so it's not
something that you'd often describe as
something for the masses or in Tagalog
now compared to something that's usually
considered as part of popular culture
like for example rock music or K-pop
so unlike Opera wherein it's quite hard
to get Ninja about it or to actually
watch it but for example if you look at
rock music for example or K-pop music
this is basically everywhere so for
example there are people in most that
perform rock music
keep open meeting from television for
example or maybe you can also see this
ones from
um other places like concerts so the
concerts can be free or sometimes they
also have payment but the idea here is
that it's generally more accessible and
affordable
compared to for example the Opera so
that's basically the idea about popular
cultures a culture left over after we
have decided what is high culture so
popular culture is not exclusive in
nature it's easy to get into
now for the third definition popular
culture is a culture considered as a
mass culture popular culture is said to
have Mass Appeal this means that it's
designed to be as likable as possible to
as many people as possible so how can we
any how can many people like something
in the first place so it should be
accessible so this means that it should
be something that is easy to get into
like for example if you're going to
produce a show for instance so for
someone to actually know about show in
the first place it should be easy to
watch the show that's why oftentimes you
can see shows becoming popular those are
the shows that come from me history
media like in television or for example
in Netflix so a lot of people are able
to access this piece and that ease of
access adds to the max appeal
so that's basically the general idea
when it comes to popular culture as
being a mass culture it's made to appeal
to a lot of people as much as possible
now as for the fourth definition popular
culture is a culture that originates
from the people
these things that we enjoy in popular
culture like different media works
books video games shows and so on and so
forth there are people Behind These
works as well people's efforts
creativity artistic talents and other
abilities
they are often also being showcased
through these things in popular culture
that's why it's also good to appreciate
it also things in popular culture
because there is effort put by the
people who are inside of making these so
that's why popular culture is indeed a
culture that Origins from the people
also at the same time for something to
be considered as popular
there are people who actually
Give opinions or feedback about
something's popularity so popularity
also depends on people's perceptions
without people's engagement how will you
be able to identify something as popular
in the first place
and last but not least popular culture
can be described as a site of struggle
it is said that popular culture is more
than entertainment and Leisure and it
can also be a matter of power and
politics as I mentioned before there are
people behind popular media works and
people can have different motives when
it comes to the networks that we do so
of course sometimes power dynamics and
social influence may also come into the
picture and affect the content or things
that you see also in popular culture now
we'll cover these kinds of aspects of
popular culture in our future lessons
particularly the ones about culture and
ideology but for now I hope that you're
able to understand
or get a general idea of the definitions
the different definitions of popular
culture
not
and that concludes our lesson for today
thank you very much and stay safe always
everyone
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