HUMS 211

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III. Popular Culture

1 Definitions of Popular Culture

2 Examples of Popular Culture
3 Formation of Popular Culture
4 Sources of Popular Culture
5 Concepts Related to Popular Culture
Intended Learning Outcomes

After engaging with each topic, the students should be

able to:
• create contextual definitions of popular culture;
• identify examples of popular culture;
• narrate the formation of popular culture;
• critic and analyze the sources of popular culture;
and
• comprehend concepts related to popular culture;
What is

?
 The term ‘popular culture’ holds different
meanings depending on who’s defining it and the
context of use. It is generally recognized as
the vernacular or people’s culture that
predominates in a society at a point in time.
As BRUMMETT explains in Rhetorical
Dimensions of Popular Culture, pop culture
involves the aspects of social life most actively
involved in by the public.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview
 As the ‘culture of the people’, popular
culture is determined by the interactions
between people in their everyday activities:
styles of dress, the use of slang, greeting rituals
and the foods that people eat are all examples of
popular culture. Popular culture is also informed
by the mass media.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview
 There are a number of generally agreed elements comprising
popular culture. For example, popular culture encompasses the
most immediate and contemporary aspects of our lives. These
aspects are often subject to rapid change, especially in a highly
technological world in which people are brought closer and closer
by omnipresent media. Certain standards and commonly held
beliefs are reflected in pop culture. Because of its commonality,
pop culture both reflects and influences people’s everyday life
(see eg Petracca and Sorapure, Common Culture). Furthermore,
brands can attain pop iconic status (e.g. the Nike swoosh or
McDonald’s golden arches). However, iconic brands, as other
aspects of popular culture, may rise and fall.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview
 With these fundamental aspects in mind, popular
culture may be defined as the products and forms of
expression and identity that are frequently encountered or
widely accepted, commonly liked or approved, and
characteristic of a particular society at a given time.
RAY BROWNE in his essay ‘Folklore to Populore’ offers a
similar definition: “Popular culture consists of the aspects of
attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, customs, and tastes that define
the people of any society. Popular culture is, in the historic
use of term, the culture of the people.”

https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview
 Popular culture allows large heterogeneous masses of
people to identify collectively. It serves an inclusionary role
in society as it unites the masses on ideals of acceptable
forms of behavior. Along with forging a sense of identity
which binds individuals to the greater society, consuming pop
culture items often enhances an individual’s prestige in their
peer group. Further, popular culture, unlike folk or high
culture, provides individuals with a chance to change the
prevailing sentiments and norms of behavior, as we shall see.
So popular culture appeals to people because it provides
opportunities for both individual happiness and communal
bonding.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview
 The POPULAR CULTURE is a kind of
mass culture accepted by majority of
people in the society.
According to Mcgarh, POPULAR
CULTURE is an acceptance of values,
ideas, viewpoints and other phenomena
in the majority of people of a specific
culture.

https://www.redalyc.org/journal/7038/703874214016/html/
 According to Parker, POPULAR
CULTURE consists of products whose
production and consumption require very
cultural capital (2011).
Crosman (2017) defines POPULAR
CULTURE as a set of cultural products that
are consumed by most of society, such as
music, new media culture, film, television,
fashion and radio.

https://www.redalyc.org/journal/7038/703874214016/html/
III. Popular Culture

1 Definitions of Popular Culture

2 Examples of Popular Culture
3 Formation of Popular Culture
4 Sources of Popular Culture
5 Concepts Related to Popular Culture
 The most common FORMS OF POPULAR
CULTURE are:

movies music television games

various forms
sports entertainment news fashion of technology
https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview
 EXAMPLES OF POPULAR CULTURE come
from a wide array of genres, including popular
music, print, cyber culture, sports,
entertainment, leisure, fads, advertising and
television. SPORTS AND TELEVISION are
arguably two of the most widely consumed
examples of popular culture, and they also
represent two examples of popular culture
with great staying power.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview
 Sports are played and watched by
members of all social classes, but the masses
are responsible for the huge popularity of
sports. Some sporting events, such as the
World Cup and the Olympics, are consumed by
a world of community.
Cheering for a sports team or a favorite
athlete is a way any individual can become
part of popular cultre.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview
 Many people watch numerous hours of
television every day. It is such a prevalent aspect
of contemporary culture. It is difficult to imagine
life without it.
There are those who believe TV is responsible
for the dumbing down of society; that children
watch too much television; and that the couch
potato syndrome has contributed epidemic of
childhood obesity.
Living in the world without a television is not
really living. It is even more difficult to imagine a
world without popular culture.
https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/Pop_Culture_An_Overview