CMN 2180: Lecture One Sept 15th 2011
Sept 15th 2011
CMN 2180: Lecture One The study of pop culture a historical overview and purposes:
Part One Pop Culture: pop culture is a mass culture, an everyday culture, a well liked culture, a culture of the people. This means, in part, that pop culture is a culture of the masses and by the masses for mass consumption. It is also mass mediated. Culture : Denotes all the knowledge, technologies, values, beliefs, customs and behaviors common to people While simple societies may have only a single integrated culture that is shared by everyone, complex societies can accommodate many layers and levels of culture and subcultures To study pop culture is to study modern society. Simple Comparison of traditional and modern societies F. Tonnies Traditional (Gemeinschaft): Belief in divine transcendence Village , peasants, agriculture Local exchange Demographic dispersion Folklore culture Common culture and community Generality of roles Binding ties Group mentality and common knowledge
Modern (Gesellschaft): Belief in reason City, proletariat, industrialization National and international exchange Mass dispersion Mass culture technologies of contact Interest groups Specialized roles Contractual ties Anonymity and individualism
High Culture: High culture includes things like classical music, serious novels, poetry, dance, high or ‘fine’ art, and other cultural products which are usually appreciate by only a relatively small number of educated people (versus) popular culture where “popular’ used to mean “low”, “base”, “vulgar” or “common people”
Cultural Studies: Cultural studies developed as an attempt to assess, understand and explore the role of culture in everyday life. Arguing that the notion of culture must be expanded to include aspects of pop culture such as magazines, newspapers and other products of media industries. Cultural studies analyzes the ways in which meaning is constructed in these artifacts or “texts” This new approach analyzes the emergence of mass mediated pop culture and interrogates the connection between culture and society. This work stood in sharp contrast to the tendominant approach to the study of culture, which was concerned with ‘high’ culture (aesthetics’) and the maintenance of a strong cultural tradition. Richard Hoggarts: The Uses of Literacy[1958]: Chronicles the existence and eventually the demise of a strong working class culture in the early 20 th century. Broadens the application of literary studies to take in newspapers, magazines, popular music and so on. He examines the interconnections between theses and the strictures of individual’s’ everyday lives, especially what he calls the working class. The personal experience of working class culture was at odds with the scholarly tradition of Britain that devalued and marginalized such cultures. Raymond Williams: Culture and Society 17801950[1958] and The Long Revolution [1961]: Aesthetics judgments as to what constitutes ‘bad ‘ and ‘good’ create hierarchical relationships between the culture of the affluent and the culture of the working classes. Explains the process by which culture serves to reinforce hierarchal relationships within society “popular culture was not identified by the people but by the others, and it still carries two older senses: inferior kinds of work and work deliberately setting out to win favor.. as well as the more modern sense of wellliked by many people.” “Culture is ordinary: that is the first fact.”
“we use the word culture in these two senses: to mean a whole way of life—the common meanings; to mean the arts and learning—the special processes of discovery and creative effort. Some writers reserve the word for one or other of these senses.; I insist on both, and on the significance of the their conjunction. The questions I ask about our culture are questions about deep personal meaning. Culture is ordinary, in every society and in every mind” so, while culture is seen as an important way in which individuals participate in their community, it is also critically regarded as a means by which unequal, hierarchical, social relations are continually reinforced. E.P. Thompson’s :The Making of the English Working Class [1963]: Class as a process and not a thing move away from statistical and economic explanations of class tot the daily experiences and the relationships of communities. He portrays the working class as in control of their own making (with class consciousness) and not as victims of history. Contributions: Development of an approach to a cultural inquiry that engages with pop culture critically and thoughtfully collectively, although they did not aim purposely to create cultural studies, they attempted to understand the connection between culture and society in a way that did not reproduce the dominant assumptions but rather questioned them Purpose: “cultural studies, therefore, poses questions that are specifically concerned with the means by which society reinforces and maintains itself and its social norms, the role of culture ( and specifically mass media) in this process, and the ways in which individuals receive , consume and engage with mass mediated culture.” A.M Kinahan Institutional place: The Centre for Contemporary Studies at the University of Birmingham(Britain) Created in 1964, with Hoggart as its director: examination of the lived experience and culture of different classes In 1980, Stuart Hall replaced Hoggart as director Under Hall, Birmingham Center investigated the operation of power and ideology in mass media and thus foregrounding the study of ideology within popular culture. Mass media and mass culture: Mass media inscribes its promise of happiness in the present and not in the future Utopia: is already here and condemns us to consume what is and not what could be.
Mass media: is the product of an industry that produces in series and is not a refuge of the subjectivity. Mas media isolate us from each other and subject us to a standardized and centralized culture in a non reciprocal context media make instrumental culture and conscience strategies or affirmation: suppression of context of production and reception, fascinate by superficial effects makes the social problems psychological ones. These strategies distract is from the real conditions The most omnipresent (universal) strategy of affirmation is narcissism (the extreme love of one’s self) Affirmative authoritarianism never stops from reminding us of the importance of appearance in order to make us aspire to the social type it proposes. Critical Theory Frankfurt school: Small group of philosophers, called critical theorists, who worked under the direction of Max Horkheimer( 18941973) and Theodor Adorno (19031969) Frankfurt school says that all modern societies especially the advance capitalist North American society, are victims to forms of authoritarianism, especially fascism (state with terrorist domination) and totalitarianism (total state control) Marx and the Frankfurt School: the Frankfurt school turned to Freudian psychology (Oedipus complex) to explain why the workers revolution did not happen in advanced capitalist societies as predicted by Marx. Marx: Base determines the Superstructure which created class conflict Superstructure: (politics, culture, philosophy etc.) Base :(economy, labor, capital) Workers will revolt; revolution will take place in most advanced capitalist societies. They found that the deterministic Marxian approach that the base or infra structure (workforce, economy etc.) determines the superstructure (politics, culture, philosophy etc.) contradicted what took place in the case of Fascism and Communism Why authoritarianism is the horizon of modernity? Because of the replacement of positive reason with instrumental reason.
Because of the dissolution of the individual (human subjectivity).
Capitalist societies: The Frankfurt school considers that capitalist societies exploit nature and necessarily, exploit the human being ( as a condition to exploit nature) In short, instrumentalism does not have to take the form of brutal state repression it can happen anywhere but its consequences are always the same: intensification of irrationality and exploitation, elimination of liberties, maintenance of inequalities etc. Frankfurt and the American Society: The theory of the Frankfurt school recognized the insufficiency of Marxism and reaches a profound pessimism concerning the liberation of Man The future seems to only have authoritarianism It is in this state of mind, strongly conditioned by the Nazi experience, that the Frankfurt school faces American society. According to Frankfurt school, American society is authoritarian but this authoritarianism comes through channels and mechanisms that are appropriate to it Essentially, media and mass culture constitute the privileged channels of North American societies. American society: Authoritarian American society resembles Nazi and Fascist authoritarianism: a) by its excessive military spending that remind us of “production for destruction”; b) the use of classical propaganda techniques and the cult of personality; c) flashing the power of the State in the behavior of politicians; d) irrational violence and degradation of public debate; e) unexpected success of religious sects of extreme right; f) the fascination of media by authoritarian figures. American society: Authoritarian American society resembles Nazi and Fascist authoritarianism: a) by its excessive military spending that remind us of ?production for destruction”; b) the use of classical propaganda techniques and the cult of personality; c) flashing the power of the State in the behavior of politicians; d) irrational; violence and degradation of public debate; e) unexpected success of religious sects of extreme right; f) the fascination of media by authoritarian figures. Critique of the Frankfurt School: Lost sight of the specificity of Fascism Underestimated the power of personal reason Confuse different attitudes in front of the media
Transportation of German Nazism to the North American context tend to obscure the democratic traditions of America Belief that every contact with mass culture will lead to an immersion in the mass culture. Ignores the fact that one can consume media in different ways.
09/19/2011
09/19/2011
CMN 2180: Lecture One The study of pop culture a historical overview and purposes:
Part One Pop Culture: pop culture is a mass culture, an everyday culture, a well liked culture, a culture of the people. This means, in part, that pop culture is a culture of the masses and by the masses for mass consumption. It is also mass mediated. Culture : Denotes all the knowledge, technologies, values, beliefs, customs and behaviors common to people While simple societies may have only a single integrated culture that is shared by everyone, complex societies can accommodate many layers and levels of culture and subcultures To study pop culture is to study modern society. Simple Comparison of traditional and modern societies F. Tonnies Traditional (Gemeinschaft): Belief in divine transcendence Village , peasants, agriculture Local exchange Demographic dispersion Folklore culture Common culture and community Generality of roles Binding ties Group mentality and common knowledge
Modern (Gesellschaft): Belief in reason City, proletariat, industrialization National and international exchange Mass dispersion Mass culture technologies of contact Interest groups Specialized roles Contractual ties Anonymity and individualism
High Culture: High culture includes things like classical music, serious novels, poetry, dance, high or ‘fine’ art, and other cultural products which are usually appreciate by only a relatively small number of educated people (versus) popular culture where “popular’ used to mean “low”, “base”, “vulgar” or “common people”
Cultural Studies: Cultural studies developed as an attempt to assess, understand and explore the role of culture in everyday life. Arguing that the notion of culture must be expanded to include aspects of pop culture such as magazines, newspapers and other products of media industries. Cultural studies analyzes the ways in which meaning is constructed in these artifacts or “texts” This new approach analyzes the emergence of mass mediated pop culture and interrogates the connection between culture and society. This work stood in sharp contrast to the tendominant approach to the study of culture, which was concerned with ‘high’ culture (aesthetics’) and the maintenance of a strong cultural tradition. Richard Hoggarts: The Uses of Literacy[1958]: Chronicles the existence and eventually the demise of a strong working class culture in the early 20 th century. Broadens the application of literary studies to take in newspapers, magazines, popular music and so on. He examines the interconnections between theses and the strictures of individual’s’ everyday lives, especially what he calls the working class. The personal experience of working class culture was at odds with the scholarly tradition of Britain that devalued and marginalized such cultures. Raymond Williams: Culture and Society 17801950[1958] and The Long Revolution [1961]: Aesthetics judgments as to what constitutes ‘bad ‘ and ‘good’ create hierarchical relationships between the culture of the affluent and the culture of the working classes. Explains the process by which culture serves to reinforce hierarchal relationships within society “popular culture was not identified by the people but by the others, and it still carries two older senses: inferior kinds of work and work deliberately setting out to win favor.. as well as the more modern sense of wellliked by many people.” “Culture is ordinary: that is the first fact.”
“we use the word culture in these two senses: to mean a whole way of life—the common meanings; to mean the arts and learning—the special processes of discovery and creative effort. Some writers reserve the word for one or other of these senses.; I insist on both, and on the significance of the their conjunction. The questions I ask about our culture are questions about deep personal meaning. Culture is ordinary, in every society and in every mind” so, while culture is seen as an important way in which individuals participate in their community, it is also critically regarded as a means by which unequal, hierarchical, social relations are continually reinforced. E.P. Thompson’s :The Making of the English Working Class [1963]: Class as a process and not a thing move away from statistical and economic explanations of class tot the daily experiences and the relationships of communities. He portrays the working class as in control of their own making (with class consciousness) and not as victims of history. Contributions: Development of an approach to a cultural inquiry that engages with pop culture critically and thoughtfully collectively, although they did not aim purposely to create cultural studies, they attempted to understand the connection between culture and society in a way that did not reproduce the dominant assumptions but rather questioned them Purpose: “cultural studies, therefore, poses questions that are specifically concerned with the means by which society reinforces and maintains itself and its social norms, the role of culture ( and specifically mass media) in this process, and the ways in which individuals receive , consume and engage with mass mediated culture.” A.M Kinahan Institutional place: The Centre for Contemporary Studies at the University of Birmingham(Britain) Created in 1964, with Hoggart as its director: examination of the lived experience and culture of different classes In 1980, Stuart Hall replaced Hoggart as director Under Hall, Birmingham Center investigated the operation of power and ideology in mass media and thus foregrounding the study of ideology within popular culture. Mass media and mass culture: Mass media inscribes its promise of happiness in the present and not in the future Utopia: is already here and condemns us to consume what is and not what could be.
Mass media: is the product of an industry that produces in series and is not a refuge of the subjectivity. Mas media isolate us from each other and subject us to a standardized and centralized culture in a non reciprocal context media make instrumental culture and conscience strategies or affirmation: suppression of context of production and reception, fascinate by superficial effects makes the social problems psychological ones. These strategies distract is from the real conditions The most omnipresent (universal) strategy of affirmation is narcissism (the extreme love of one’s self) Affirmative authoritarianism never stops from reminding us of the importance of appearance in order to make us aspire to the social type it proposes. Critical Theory Frankfurt school: Small group of philosophers, called critical theorists, who worked under the direction of Max Horkheimer( 18941973) and Theodor Adorno (19031969) Frankfurt school says that all modern societies especially the advance capitalist North American society, are victims to forms of authoritarianism, especially fascism (state with terrorist domination) and totalitarianism (total state control) Marx and the Frankfurt School: the Frankfurt school turned to Freudian psychology (Oedipus complex) to explain why the workers revolution did not happen in advanced capitalist societies as predicted by Marx. Marx: Base determines the Superstructure which created class conflict Superstructure: (politics, culture, philosophy etc.) Base :(economy, labor, capital) Workers will revolt; revolution will take place in most advanced capitalist societies. They found that the deterministic Marxian approach that the base or infra structure (workforce, economy etc.) determines the superstructure (politics, culture, philosophy etc.) contradicted what took place in the case of Fascism and Communism Why authoritarianism is the horizon of modernity? Because of the replacement of positive reason with instrumental reason.
Because of the dissolution of the individual (human subjectivity).
Capitalist societies: The Frankfurt school considers that capitalist societies exploit nature and necessarily, exploit the human being ( as a condition to exploit nature) In short, instrumentalism does not have to take the form of brutal state repression it can happen anywhere but its consequences are always the same: intensification of irrationality and exploitation, elimination of liberties, maintenance of inequalities etc. Frankfurt and the American Society: The theory of the Frankfurt school recognized the insufficiency of Marxism and reaches a profound pessimism concerning the liberation of Man The future seems to only have authoritarianism It is in this state of mind, strongly conditioned by the Nazi experience, that the Frankfurt school faces American society. According to Frankfurt school, American society is authoritarian but this authoritarianism comes through channels and mechanisms that are appropriate to it Essentially, media and mass culture constitute the privileged channels of North American societies. American society: Authoritarian American society resembles Nazi and Fascist authoritarianism: a) by its excessive military spending that remind us of “production for destruction”; b) the use of classical propaganda techniques and the cult of personality; c) flashing the power of the State in the behavior of politicians; d) irrational violence and degradation of public debate; e) unexpected success of religious sects of extreme right; f) the fascination of media by authoritarian figures. American society: Authoritarian American society resembles Nazi and Fascist authoritarianism: a) by its excessive military spending that remind us of ?production for destruction”; b) the use of classical propaganda techniques and the cult of personality; c) flashing the power of the State in the behavior of politicians; d) irrational; violence and degradation of public debate; e) unexpected success of religious sects of extreme right; f) the fascination of media by authoritarian figures. Critique of the Frankfurt School: Lost sight of the specificity of Fascism Underestimated the power of personal reason Confuse different attitudes in front of the media
Transportation of German Nazism to the North American context tend to obscure the democratic traditions of America Belief that every contact with mass culture will lead to an immersion in the mass culture. Ignores the fact that one can consume media in different ways.
09/19/2011
09/19/2011
