Chapter 9 Popular Culture and Intercultural Communication Created By: Stephanie Butler, Joshua Gregory, Jeremy Little, Marya Moreno, Jessica Rivas, Rachelle Vargas

What is Popular Culture? Mass Appeal Social Entertainment Changing Interests Financially driven Media supported

High Culture  Cultural activities that are believed to reflect upon the elite or wealthy.  Framed as international due to their timelessness and ability to be enjoyed by many other cultures  Universities even devote courses, programs and even entire departments to study the aspects of high culture. Classical Ballet Classical Ballet Symphony Symphony Great Literature Great Literature Fine Art Fine Art Opera Opera Classical Music Classical Music

High Culture Examples

Low Culture  Cultural domains that are not considered high culture. These activities are not considered elite.  Now framed as “Popular Culture”  Viewed as for the people by the people. Modern Dance Modern Dance Music Videos Music Videos Books/Magazines Books/Magazines Graffiti Graffiti Celebrities Celebrities Fashion Fashion

Low Culture Examples

Importance of Popular Culture  Commonalities in “pop” culture bring people together with similar interest.  Helps people from around the world visually see other cultures in action.  “Pop” culture helps to educate the world on the similarities and differences of other cultures.  Through technology, people connect/keep in touch with other cultures of the world.

Critics of Pop Culture define it as “dumbing down” or low culture: The media has increasingly neglected its responsibility to provide people with what they need to know in order to better not only their own lives, but society as a whole, in favor of blowing out of all proportion the trivial, the voyeuristic, and the sensational. Giving people what they want is not necessarily a good idea when they choose to turn away from knowledge and issues that are important and that actually have a major impact on our lives and instead retreat into fantasy and make-believe.

Popular Culture is consumed through:  Magazines, movies & television, music, sports and technology.  Through these out lets, the process of encoding and decoding, which relays a certain message to people, and in turn people interpret that message.  People extract different things from popular culture, and what one person likes another person doesn’t. For an example: Football is a popular sport amongst men, but not all men like to watch or play football.

Magazines  Magazines publish imagery and articles of popular celebrities, actors, artists, cosmetics and accessories which are often attributes of popular culture. These images are interpreted differently by every reader.  Magazines are designed to appeal to certain demographics, through the use of imagery and language.  Each magazine creates a reader profile, which allows it to appeal to a specific group of readers.

Movies / Television Various movies and television shows provide outlets for the consumption of popular culture. Movies such as Twilight, are major staples in the Pop-culture realm, and are well known, across the world. News and entertainment shows, such as Access Hollywood, Entertainment tonight, MTV and VH1; premier and discuss all elements of popular culture which makes it difficult to avoid consuming it.

Music Misery – Maroon 5 Popular culture in music consists of a variety of genres: Rap, R&B, Country, Latin, Pop and Rock The different genres allows each individual to subscribe to the particular music that they enjoy listening to.

Sports An aspect of popular culture entertainment.  Consumed by attending sporting events and watching them on television.

Technology: Internet, Twitter & Facebook  Technology has become the fastest method for consuming popular culture. Any and all information is at the user’s fingertips.  Social websites, such as Twitter and Facebook, allows for immediate consumption of popular culture. A variety of topics flow between these websites about any and all elements of popular culture.

Western dominance in Popular Culture consumption  Popular culture is a main aspect of the western world and has great influence. The popularity of these products between the United States and other countries, creates an imbalance of culture sharing:  United States is rarely exposed to popular culture from other countries  What the US is exposed to is rarely absorbed into our pop culture  Mass media outlets used to present popular culture, allows the West to dominate the rest of the world, as well as the capitalism used to produce these mass media outlets.  Through these outlets, other countries are encouraged to adapt to western popular culture.  Other countries are more willing to accept and receive the West’s standards and production of popular culture.  “A characteristic of the production of a popular culture under advanced capitalism is the increasingly complex character of its circuits, as the culture industries incorporate the popular commercial entertainments of subordinate groups into new, mass- marketed commodities.”

Quiz – Multiple Choice 1)Which statement best describes the recent tensions in Western social systems regarding the distinction between high and low culture: a)There is no change b)The distinction between high and low culture has begun to break down c)Tensions between high and low culture are higher than ever before d)There was never a distinction between the two

Quiz – Multiple Choice 2)What of the following is not one of the four significant characteristics of popular culture: a)It is produced by culture industries b)It is everywhere c)It is the same as folk culture d)It fills a social function

Quiz – Multiple Choice 3)Which of the following is not a component of cultural imperialism: a)Cultural domination b)Media imperialism c)Critique of global capitalism and modernity d)Language identity

Quiz – Multiple Choice 4)Who made the observation that stereotypes are connected to social value and social judgements about other groups of people? a)Film studies scholar Richard Dyer b)Academicians Horace Newcomb and Paul Hirsch c)Communication scholar Dreama Moon d)Poet and essayist Matthew Arnold

Quiz – Multiple Choice 5)Which of the following might not be a reason a person would resist a popular culture activity: a)Historical reference b)Represents a stereotype c)Referral from a friend d)Profit level of a large corporation

True / False 1)Cultural texts are the same as cultural identities. 2)Popular texts have to win over the majority of people to be “popular” 3)Reader profiles are portrayals of readership demographics prepared by magazines 4)Avoiding certain forms of popular culture is one kind of resistance. 5)The impact of Western media on popular culture in other countries is generally appreciated and encouraged.

References:  “Dumbing Down: Or The Banalization of Culture”. Retrieved March 12,  Traube, E.G. (1996). The Popular in American. Annual Reviews of Anthropology, 134.

Quiz Answers  Multiple Choice 1)B 2)C 3)D 4)A 5)C  True / False 1)F 2)F 3)T 4)T 5)F