Introduction to Popular Culture PDF

GE2101 Introduction to Popular Culture If you try to hang out with the other "tribes" in your classroom, yo...

GE2101 Introduction to Popular Culture If you try to hang out with the other "tribes" in your classroom, you will know the difference between your "social tribe" and your classmates'. Table of Contents As observed and defined by Matthew Arnold in 1869, culture is "the Defining Culture 1 best that has been thought and said in the world" (Arnold, 1869). In The Spectrum of Culture 1-2 his time, he feared that since working-class men began to enter Defining Popular Culture 2-3 politics, which was a common topic in the social circles of the upper- Categories of Popular Culture 3 class, his idea of culture might collapse since anarchy is not far behind Subsets of Culture 3-4 -- a notion Arnold argued since the working-class might use politics to Youth Culture 5 further their personal agenda. Nowadays, Arnold's perspective is References 5 considered a vital point in studying culture, although his point-of-view suggests that his view is an elitist perspective. Every country has its contributions to the rich and diverse iconography we know. Japan has J-Pop, visual kei, anime, and crazy-upbeat local The Spectrum of Culture commercials. The United Kingdom gave us The Beatles, Spice Girls, Due to the nature of culture covering almost every social aspect, we Doctor Who, and Mr. Bean. The United States has many icons, from can determine the three (3) major spectra of culture. Elvis Presley, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Vogue, Ted Bundy, and the Coen Brothers, among others. South Korea gave us K-Pop, The Body Shop, Samsung, and K-Drama. Cuba has Che Guevara, Mexico has Selena Quintanilla -- even the Philippines has its own contributions ranging from Trese, Manny Pacquiao, and Lea Salonga to Ben Cab and Bob Ong, to name a few. All these things all have one (1) thing in common -- they have shaped our everyday life in one way or another. They have become part of our culture. Defining Culture Raymond Schuck (n.d.), who referenced Raymond Williams in defining the word "culture," culture itself is a way of living, covering a broad range of aspects from traditions, values, and beliefs, to behaviors, daily tasks, rituals, social norms, and rules to name a few. The only thing that makes them a part of culture is if a group of people Figure 1. The spectrum of culture agreed to observe it. As an example, look at your classmates -- each class is divided into different social "cliques," with each clique having their own shared hobbies, conversations, and agreed norms. It is The rightmost end of the spectrum is what we consider to be a high cliché, of course, but you cannot deny that cliques exist in one form or (or sophisticated) culture. This culture spectrum is what we usually another. associate with intellectual discourse, high-brow comedy, and elaborate literature, to name a few, because it reflects the best aesthetics of a particular society. Wolfgang Mozart's The Magic Flute, Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore, Lucresia Kasilag's Philippine 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 5  GE2101 Scenes, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker are some examples 4. Folk icons such as Malakas and Maganda; Pilandok; and the of icons representing high culture. various mythological gods and entities The Magic Flute is an opera composed by the late Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart based on the libretto made If high culture encompasses the intellectual and sophisticated aspects by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is one (1) of the many Western of culture, and folk culture represents the exclusive representation of compositions that reflect the best aesthetics in terms of culture, the middleman (i.e., sharing both worlds) is popular culture. orchestration and storytelling. Popular culture (also called mass or mainstream culture in some Gitanjali is a collection of poems written by the late Bengali poet references), also known by its short name pop culture, is generally Rabindranath Tagore which talks about man's beliefs and defined as the collection of traditions and material culture of a spirituality. It is one (1) of many important cultural heritages of particular society (Crossman, 2019). What it presents is that popular India. culture is exclusive to a certain group of people, with the scope of its The orchestral music Philippine Scenes by Lucresia Kasilag knowledge and existence contained only to that group. However, utilizes our country's folk musical instruments and includes some much like folk culture, it can only be as timeless as the people who vocal noises. These elements invoke a sense of locality we know them -- if no one knows about it nor can access them, its Filipinos reminisce about during festivals and viewing local essence fades. Because of its availability, it is sometimes called low sceneries. culture to contrast the sophistication upheld by high culture. The Nutcracker is a famous Christmas ballet performed worldwide. It was composed and written by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It Defining Popular Culture is so iconic; many people associate Christmastime with watching Popular culture, as its name implies, is anything that the general The Nutcracker. population can access easily. It includes music, art, literature, fashion, dance, film, television, radio, and recently, the Internet. According On the leftmost end of the spectrum is folk culture, roughly described again to John Storey, popular culture can be intricately defined in six as something shared first in a certain group of people before being (6) ways (Crossman, 2019): disseminated to the general population (University System of Georgia, 1. Popular culture is simply a culture that is widely favored (or well- n.d.). It means traditions, music, and anything else practiced by a liked) by many people. It means the popular culture has no certain group is exclusively theirs until they share it with the rest. This negative connotations because people like them and agreed to idea stems from the word folk, which, when traced to its Old Norse- uphold this mutual affection. English-German origin, describes an army or a small group of people. 2. Popular culture is whatever is left after you have identified what This exclusivity ensures that folk culture is stable over time as long as "high culture" is. This definition argues that popular culture is people practice it but remains variable across geographies. considered inferior because of its accessibility. It serves as a marker of status and class -- which, in this case, is being Having different regions and ethnicities gives us a rich diversity and a bourgeois (i.e., the working class, the capable public). plethora of regional and ethnic music, way of living, and beliefs, among 3. Popular culture can be defined as commercial objects that are other practices. This is reflected in celebrating various fiestas all over produced for mass consumption by non-discriminating the country and being performed in field demonstrations in schools. consumers. This one supports the second definition of popular Some examples of folk culture components include: culture. However, it connotes that it is also treated as a tool the 1. Songs such as Paruparong Bukid; Atin Cu Pung Singsing; and elites use to suppress (or take advantage of) the masses. Leron, Leron Sinta; 4. Popular culture is folk culture, something that arises from the 2. Dances such as Tinikling, Singkil, and Pandanggo sa Ilaw; people rather than imposed upon them. This states that popular 3. Festivals such as Ati-Atihan, Higantes, and Sinulog; culture is authentic (created by the people) instead of commercial 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 5  GE2101 (thrust upon them by commercial enterprises). This one directly in Japan, the "Laglag Bala" issue in the Philippines, and the Sandy opposes the connotation pointed out by the third definition. Hook Elementary School shooting in the United States. 5. Popular culture is negotiated. Popular culture is partly imposed on The politics category encompasses anything and everything the dominant classes and partially resisted (or changed) by the politics-related, which includes politicians and political events. subordinate classes. It entails that the group with the capacity (i.e., This category sometimes overlaps with the news category the upper class) can produce and contribute much to the because certain icons coexist between them. Examples include development of culture. Still, the group with less power (i.e., the the Martial Law Crisis in Burma (Myanmar), Harry Roque, Che working and lower classes) gets to decide which ones are popular Guevarra, the Gunpowder Plot in Great Britain, and Kim Jong-Un. and which ones will fade. The technology category encompasses new media forms, 6. The last definition of popular culture is that, in the postmodern including social media, gadgets, video games, and general world (i.e., today), the distinction between "authentic" versus Internet culture. This category also overlaps with sports in terms "commercial" is blurred. In popular culture today, users are free to of eSports and entertainment because of social media. Examples embrace some manufactured content, alter it for their own use, or include Facebook, the Cancel culture, TikTok (or Douyin in reject it entirely and create their own. Because of its accessibility, China), 4chan, and Internet memes. the working class can now contribute to the development of culture while retaining the capacity to decide which ones will stay Subsets of Culture and which ones will fade. We have discussed earlier that culture is a spectrum, ranging from the preserved past of folk culture to the preserved cultivation of high Categories of Popular Culture culture. Each of these spectra is treated as a separate entity Popular culture is usually categorized into six (6) major groups: comprising of different groups. Each group is considered as a subset entertainment, sports, news, politics, lifestyle, and technology. of the larger spectrum. These subsets are broadly classified into three The entertainment category encompasses varied forms of (3) groups: subculture, counterculture, and co-cultures. media, but it usually includes television, film, music, and literature. This category also covers celebrities and artists, to name a few. A subculture is, simply put, a particular culture contained in a larger Examples include K-Pop, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lea culture (sometimes referred to as its parent culture). This group Salonga, and the Coen Brothers. supports the notion of exclusivity in culture because only the people The lifestyle category covers any new trend that people perform with knowledge and access to these cultures can appreciate them. and/or consume, including fashion, art, dance, language, and food An example of folk culture is the Aeta culture, part of the Philippine trends. This category also highlights visual artists, cosplays, and folk subculture, which is part of a bigger collective of folk culture. celebrity chefs, to name a few. Examples include visual kei, Ben An example of high culture is ballet, part of the Philippine high Cab, swardspeak, and vogue dancing. subculture, which is part of a bigger collective of high culture. The sports category covers anything related to traditional sports, An example of popular culture is the Rico Mambo, which is part of including printed merchandise and icons and electronic sports (or the Philippine popular subculture, part of a bigger collective of eSports). Examples include the NBA, GLOCO, Mobile Legends popular culture. (or ML), and Bea Binene. The news category covers any news event that has gained Despite the seemingly detached nature of subcultures, it is still part of significant attention -- intentional or otherwise, positive or a larger culture. Filipinos can identify themselves within the Philippine negative, which has shaped public opinion about it. It includes culture, but each Filipino embraces some specific subcultures unique people and events. Examples include the murder of Junko Furuta to our country -- or even other subcultures outside the country's norms. 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 5  GE2101 Another important subset is counterculture, which is formed when a certain group begins to oppose the established norms of popular culture and breaks off from the parent culture they came from. Unlike a subculture that still identifies with its parent culture, a counterculture outright rejects its origins and begins cultivating its own identity. Counterculture is often viewed as negative but not as always. For example, in the American 1960s, a large counterculture began to spring forth from its established social norms: hippie culture. Hippies began to advocate for peace, sexual exploration and liberation, as well as the legalization of recreational drugs. The social norms they were fighting against during the 1960s in America were racism, sexism, and the Vietnam War. Figure 3. The non-conforming nature of the punk culture is heavily reflected in their attire Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_fashion The last subset is the co-culture, defined as a subculture with which a person can affiliate themselves while existing, interacting, and negotiating within a parent culture. Much like a subculture, a co-culture can exist within a parent culture. However, it can also be a counterculture when the dominant parent culture ignores its negotiation aspect. For example, white culture is the dominant (i.e., parent) racial culture in the United States -- it experiences the greatest cultural privilege and Figure 2. Some tropes of the hippie culture permeate even in comics the most access to power and resources in society. Filipino-American Source: https://www.rappler.com/voices/pb-hippie-no-more (or Fil-Am) culture exists as a co-culture alongside the parent culture. Another example is punk culture. This music genre is a The Filipino aspect in the Fil-Am culture has many of its own cultural counterculture to pop music. It goes so far as to define itself differently texts and practices that differ from its parent culture. However, Filipino- -- from wild hairstyles to the "in-your-face" attitudes of the people who Americans cannot simply express and enact their Filipino culture as share the same idea: to stand up against authority and live life as you they wish. Due to the power structure in American society, they must see fit. negotiate that, within white culture, sometimes conforming to their texts and practices is better than being punished or stigmatized in some way. 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 5  GE2101 Youth Culture References: We have been discussing that culture is a concept that is stable Arnold, M. (1869). Culture and anarchy. Project Gutenberg. through time. However, it is also a dynamic historical process. As https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4212/pg4212- stated earlier, the working class dictates which parts of a particular images.html culture get to stay and which parts will go. This process is largely Crossman, A. (2019). Sociological definition of popular culture. driven by the youth, particularly teenagers who are beginning to ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/popular-culture- undergo their personal quest for self-identity -- to know their place and definition-3026453 role in society. This process of soul-searching, which also affects the Danesi, M. (2018). Youth culture. Encyclopedia.com. dynamics and structure of culture, is called youth culture. This is, to https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and- some degree, distinct from the process that parents and other adults law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and- in their community undergo. concepts/youth-culture Schuck, R. (n.d.). Chapter 1: What is popular culture?. In Introduction The idea of youth culture did not come into the general vernacular to popular culture. https://tophat.com/marketplace/arts-&- throughout history -- they appear most frequently when young people humanities/communication-&-media/textbooks/introduction-to- experience social autonomy, where they are then expected to undergo popular-culture-raymond-schuck/809/25108/ the socialization process. Some scholars agree that the process of Storey, J. (2019). Cultural theory and popular culture. Routledge modern youth culture appeared after the institution of modern nation- University System of Georgia (n.d.). Folk culture. In Introduction to states and after the foundation of the Industrial Revolution of the 19th human geography. Pressbooks. century. The mass institutions of the nation-state have been https://opentext.wsu.edu/introtohumangeography/chapter/4-3- consistent locations in which youth cultures have developed. These folk-culture/ places, where they separate young people from adults and gather them in large numbers, are educational institutions, religious sites, workspaces, and prisons. There is some evidence suggesting that youth cultures may have existed way back during the Medieval period. For our study, it is important to recognize that there are significant gaps in our historical understanding. The idea of popular culture could stem back during the Colonization period, where the colonizers introduced their cultures to ours, resulting in an intermingling of ideas and concepts. Youth cultures have been evident in the 20th century, particularly since the end of World War II. The history of this period is notably marked by significant social and cultural influences of youth cultures on society at large, a trend that continues in the contemporary period (Danesi, 2018). 01 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 5