popular culture high culture

Popular culture Often understood as the culture of the mass of people or of subordinate classes.

High culture Understood as the culture of an educated elite.

Popular culture Hollywood cinema Hollywood cinema Most television Most television Popular music Popular music Romantic fiction Romantic fiction

What else would you include as popular culture in Australia?

High culture French cinema French cinema Opera on television Opera on television Classical music Classical music Poetry Poetry

What else would you include as high culture in Australia?

Popular vs High trivial trivial uneducated uneducated passive passive commercalised commercalised fake fake Up until the early 1970s… serious educated demanding uncommercial authentic

More recently, there has been increased, sociological interest in forms of popular culture, often accompanied by more positive evaluations.

Studying Popular Culture Sociological studies of television and rock music have, for example, become branches of the discipline in their own right.

Theories of popular culture can be ranged along a continuum…

At one end, Supports a dominant ideology Supports a dominant ideology Discourages critical thinking Discourages critical thinking Reinforces conventional stereotypes Reinforces conventional stereotypes Produces passive audiences Produces passive audiences

At the other end, Creative expression of popular sentiments Creative expression of popular sentiments Appealing to an audience that is far from passive and is capable of critical thought Appealing to an audience that is far from passive and is capable of critical thought

Activity List 10 things which characterise youth popular culture Put these 10 things in order of most important to least important. Explain your choices. Now, think about your parents. What kind of things would characterise popular culture for their generation? List at least 5. Are some of these things the same as those on your list? Are they very different? Discuss