popular culture high culture Popular culture Often understood

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

What else would you include as popular culture in Australia? l l l

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

What else would you include as high culture in Australia? l l l

Up until the early 1970 s… Popular l l l trivial uneducated passive commercalised fake vs High • 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, l Supports a dominant ideology l Discourages critical thinking l Reinforces conventional stereotypes l Produces passive audiences

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