POP CULTURE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA HEDDY SHRI AHIMSA-PUTRA UNIVERSITAS GADJAH MADA YOGYAKARTA

WHAT IS POP CULTURE ? Pop culture (popular culture) - “a “majority” culture : “aspects of culture (ideological, material, social) that are widely spread, believed in, or consumed by large numbers of people (generally on a leisure basis)” (Lockard, 1998: 3)) Pop culture: a great variety of broadly intellectual-aesthetic products and activities for recreation and enjoyment of the vast majority of the population Created and distributed mainly by the mass media of communications (electronic and print categories: radio, television, cinema, stereos and tape recorders) Popular culture consists of both spoken and printed words, pictures, activities and the like (Lockard, 1998: 3).

popular culture can be understood through the concept of “mass mediation” (from “mass media”) POP CULTURE : “mass mediated culture” MASS MEDIATED CULTURE : - widespread symbols (rhythms, beliefs, and practices) - available through media (- in the form of television, radio, records, films, books, periodicals, and other means of communication -) - that transmit in a mass manner - from a single source to many anonymous receivers (Real via Lockard, 1998: 11).

- WHAT KINDS OF POP CULTURES ARE THERE ? - HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND POP CULTURES ? - WHAT FUNCTIONS DO THEY HAVE ? - HOW DO THEY RELATE TO SOCIETY ? BASIC ASSUMPTIONS - POP CULTURE : (1) a product of social process - cannot be separated from society, politics, and the time period in which it exists (2) has no fixed forms - historical situations can change the meaning - individual artifacts have no permanent meanings

(3) to have emerged along with modern technology - especially mass communication, including more efficient means of production and distribution (4) expresses social cosmology, worldviews, class and gender relations, conceptions of good and evil, and other sociocultural phenomena (5) deeply affects people’s imaginative pictures of the world, their plans and role playing - their whole lives (6) a vehicle for the creative expression of cultural identity

(7) puts greater emphasis to the communicative capacity of its performances and products than to their critical appreciation (8) follows the aesthetics of reception more than of creation - normally producing culltural products designed and made less from the creative drives within the artists than for the tastes and needs of the audience (9) beauty is defined chiefly by mass satisfaction (Lockard, 1998: 9-10)

POPULAR CULTURES : - pop music - movie / television - photography - literature - performing art - life style - fashion - game / sport etc….

ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDENTS : GROUP RESEARCH ON POPULAR CULTURES - EMERGENCE OF PARTICULAR POP-CULT - RELATIONSHIP OF POP CULT TO EDUCATION - RELATIONSHIP OF POP CULT TO ECONOMY - POP CULT AMONG THE YOUTH - PERCEPTIONS ABOUT POP CULTURE - POP CULTURE AND ‘ASEANNESS’ - ASIA AND ASEAN POP CULTURES - POP CULTURE AND SEA GAMES etc….

POPULAR CULTURE (MUSIC) AND POLITICS HYPOTHETICAL FUNCTIONS : - popular culture conveys ideas and images about politics - popular culture involves political socialization, i.e. the acquisition of ideas and images about the political world and the individual citizen’s role in it - pop culture provides an effective way for communi-cating urban influences, ideals, lifestyles, and expec-tations to the villages (Lockard, 1998: 10)

CASE STUDY : INDONESIAN POPULAR MUSIC pop music in Indonesia has developed a fanatic au-dience - especially among teenagers - accompanied by accessory products (including fashions and magazines) - attracting the youthful fans and their tastes - pop regional style have emerged - pop Jawa (Java-nese Pop); pop Batak - using local languages - supported by the proliferation of small regionally based cassette companies aimed at local markets

INDONESIA POP MUSIC : - is an “entertaining opiate” - greatly influenced by the state and commercial interests - popular music seems to have become “an escape, a refuge for youth” (Lockard, 1998: 112) THE ARTISTS AND THE MUSICIANS : - have long played a critical role - especially in Javanese society - instructed the audience on socio-cultural and moral expectations and setting a mood for reflection

THE ARTISTS AND THE MUSICIANS : - have empowered the audience; - raised their consciousness; - promoted political activity; - their concerts were a collective assertion of certain political views - raised difficult issues and kept them in the public dialogue - offered an alternative political voice (Lockard, 113).

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