conception of culture

Question 1

key characteristics of folk culture

Answer 1

traditional
created by original people
associated with active participation
associated with pre-industrial societies
roots in the experience of ordinary people

• created by local authorities and rooted in experiences, customs and believes - authentic and not manufactured
• pases through generations

Question 2

reasons why folk culture has become less popular

Answer 2

geographical mobility - people have moved from their traditional communities to the cities in search of work

mass culture is easier to consume and involves little mental effort - people less included to make mental effort involved in consuming folk culture

Question 3

differences between folk culture and mass/popular culture

Answer 3

folk
- local customs, preindustrial society, created actively, real and authentic, individual, created by the community

mass
- shaped by media influences and tech, product of industrial society, consumed passively, unreal and plastic, standardised, sold for profit

Question 4

what is mass / popular

Answer 4

popular - cultural products enjoyed by mass of ordinary people
mass - commercialised part of culture - manufactured, standardised - made for profit

product of industrial - commercially produced and spread on a wide scale through society

accessible to most people

Strinati - pm - mass culture is popular culture involving cultural products produced for profit by mass industries

Question 5

what do low, mass and popular cultures have in common

Answer 5

all commercially produced

all enjoyed by large numbers of ordinary people

Question 6

how are low, mass and popular cultures different

Answer 6

low and mass - derogatory terms

low culture - used by elitists in contrast to high culture - seen as inferior, lower quality and less worthy

mass culture - marxists to contrast to folk culture - seen as inauthentic, dumbed down for passive consumers

popular culture - less value-laden

neo-marxists & pm - do not judge popular culture as less worthy than high culture just because produced commercially

Question 7

mass culture limitations

Answer 7

seen to have harmful impact on mass audience as it drives down cultural standards from those which have been established in high culture

Frank and Queenie Leavis argue that mass culture is processed, packaged and inferior - high culture has artistic and literary value - ruining proper use of language, exploiting emotional needs and encouraging greed

passive and unchallenging - it is harmful - discourages critical thought - corrupting influence on young people eg negative influence of rap on attitudes and behaviour eg violence

Question 8

marxist analysis on mass / popular culture

Answer 8

mcdonald - mass culture undermining high culture - easier to enjoy, easier to understand and stopped people taking trouble to try to understand a more worthwhile culture - infantilises adults
- critical of mass culture unlike folk culture - authentic, generated from ordinary people and high culture

bourdeiu - high culture seen as more superior because dominant class has power to impose cultural ideas of what is good and what is bad

marcuse - consumption through advertising of media-generated mass culture - emphasis on relaxation, fun and consumption - undermines ability to think critically - social repression

miliband - mass culture is the new opium of the people - provide w/c with ideology that they buy into without understanding exploitation

Question 9

marxist analysis on mass / popular culture eval

Answer 9

pm - strinati - doesnt accept that there is one single mass culture that people passively and uncritically consume - range of choice within popular culture to select from l

livingstone - rather than the public passively consume popular culture - popular can have a positive benefit for society - writers and publishers of media open up controversial debates, discussions which present a range of political opinions eg domestic violence, eating disorders

Question 10

neo-marxist analysis on mass / popular culture

Answer 10

stuart hall and centre of contemporary culture studies in Birmingham - more neutral term popular culture should be used

people actively engage with culture they consume and reject what they don’t like

popular culture often envolves form of protest against mainstream mass media and values - form counter-hegemonic cultures

cultural forms often subverted and mass market of ruling class

Question 11

neo-marxist analysis on mass / popular culture eval

Answer 11

neo-marxists overestimate the extent that we consume and create alternative culture

though product placement and online micro-transactions - ideals of capitalism are increasingly present in our media

Question 12

postmodernist analysis on mass / popular culture

Answer 12

strinati - high and low culture - becoming one through modern media and technological advances - produce works of art, releasing videos of concerts

• division becomes meaningless - all forms equally valid

freely choose the media they like and reject what they dont

reject ideas of low culture and mass culture as this is dominant culture enjoyed by the majority - use popular culture

Question 13

postmodernist analysis on mass / popular culture eval

Answer 13

postmodernists accused of cultural relativism - by insisting all cultures are equally valid - refuse possibility that some cultures are of more worth

studies of broadcasting patterns and of viewers opinions supports argument media become dumbed down

Question 14

what is high culture

Answer 14

artistic or intellectual value eg fine art, classical music

Haralambos and Holborn - cultural creations that have been particularly high status - seen as the pinnacle of human creation - superior to other cultural products and leisure activities

important part of identity of upper class

Davis - high culture is the preserve of the few in society

Question 15

elite theory analysis on high culture

Answer 15

pursuit of perfection by and by a sophisticated minority - superior to other forms

view low culture as inferior, low quality and less worthy

Question 16

elite theory analysis on high culture eval

Answer 16

sociologists have argued that it is inappropriate to evaluate cultures as superior or inferior to one another

criticised the idea it is possible to distinguish between high and low culture

some artists regarded as high culture have characteristics of low culture

marxist arguments

Question 17

marxist analysis on high culture

Answer 17

ruling class have used power to define high culture (their culture) as superior - reinforcing idea that ruling class is superior and unattainable - giving children advantage in school

Cultural capital theory - form of cultural knowledge and experience we can draw up upon to aid us in life

middle class - high and low culture

Question 18

marxist analysis on high culture eval

Answer 18

the working class are not passive but actively engage in their culture

postmodernist arguments

Question 19

postmodernist analysis on high culture

Answer 19

technology, mass markets ect - distinction between high and low meaningless eg banksy - graffiti but high culture

strinati - distinction weakening and technology and globalisation has a large role to play in making more available to masses

pick and mix society - picking cultures to consume

Giddings - high culture art forms - often turned onto products of mass popular culture eg video games and TV
no longer anything special about art
blurring lines - only there cause we are told they are

Question 20

postmodernist analysis on high culture eval

Answer 20

PM view is cultural relativistic - where one is no longer allowed the view that one cultural product has more artistic value than another