POPULAR CULTURE

POPULAR CULTURE 

The term popular culture was fashioned after the popular art movement which took place in the US and Great Britain in the 1950s. The movement was a reaction against expressionism which emphasised forms in themselves rather than realistic representation of reality. Popular culture artists used satire in their work. 

Popular culture artists depicted reality that common masses faced in their everyday life. Popular culture appealed to the masses as it was for everyone and not just for the elite class. 

POPULAR CULTURE AND MASS CULTURE 

With the dawn of industrialisation, mass culture was mass manufactured and mass produced. Mass Culture is the culture that is tailored according to the taste of mass audiences. Popular culture is a positive term for mass produced or mass disseminated cultural products. 

Scholars have agreed that mass culture and popular culture are terms which are used interchangeably. However, popular culture refers to a culture which is shared, accepted and liked by the people. It is not the culture of the elite. 

Mass culture is a culture which cuts across and includes a range of social classes and groups. 

CIRCUIT OF CULTURE 

Stuart Hall and his colleagues discussed the 'circuit of culture ' and the articulation of production and consumption. 

Hall suggested that political economy in some ways structures encoding and decoding of media objects. Media culture is produced within an industrial organisation of production. Here products generated according to codes and models were accepted within industries. 

According to Hall, certain cultural codes are so widely circulated and integrated into mainstream culture that they get 'naturalised' in society. Thus the encoders message is put forward and the people decode cultural meaning to it through their own experiences and local culture.  (An ideal e.g. In today's india is the 'Kala Chashma' song). 

Thus we see that culture is a description of a particular way of life and expresses meaning and values. There is a continuous process of cultural encoding and distribution. The way culture is produced and circulated is decided by the audience and controlled by advertising, marketing and design. The way things are represented affect our understanding of them and how they are shared with others.  It also helps us understand how media culture is produced, circulated and distributed. 

IMPACT OF POPULAR CULTURE ON SOCIETY 

Popular culture includes the beliefs, practices and objects that are a part of everyday tradition. It includes mass produced culture such as popular music, films, mass marketed books and magazines, large circulation newspapers, etc. 

Media defines popular culture through movies, billboards, TV channels, fashion magazines, bloggers, etc. Media constantly tells people what the current trends are, what they should wear, what they should look like, how they should behave, what music they should listen to, etc.

Popular culture has a both positive and negative impact. 

Positive contribution is seen when popular culture helps to establish social boundaries. For e.g. Music concerts bring social solidarity among people irrespective of their religion, class, caste, social status, etc.  They share a common identity through the music even though they are strangers to each other. 

On the other hand, popular culture through media tends to bombard our senses from all sides. This people try to follow what they see on TV or on billboards, in magazines or hear on radio and sometimes challenge social norms. This could lead to negative impact. 

Thus popular culture plays a significant role in the formation of public attitudes and values and also plays an important role in shaping the patterns of consumption in contemporary society. 

CONSTRUCTION OF CULTURE

CONSTRUCTION  OF CULTURE

Culture is made up of different dimensions. They are:

SOCIAL SYSTEM – Refers to the interrelationships that exist among individuals, groups and institutions. Social system helps to form a cohesive whole as it incorporates the beliefs, values traditions, customs and lifestyle of people. 

Social systems shape the behaviour of the individuals living within it. Even though there are physical or territorial borders, individuals are oriented to a common focus because of social systems.

In India, it is seen that change and continuity operate simultaneously. Changes are seen in many aspects of social life. For e.g. Material aspects of society, ways of behaviour, occupational choices, technological advances, work culture, etc. Even areas that were not previously open to change are now slowly changing. For e.g. norms related to marriage, family, caste etc. Today’s urban community is characterised by professional attitudes with a greater focus on material comforts and luxury and a more liberal lifestyle. However the rural community still focuses on traditions and customs.

ECONOMICS – All human societies have economic systems. This may or may not involve the use of money. It mainly deals with access to natural resources and the utilization of these resources for the development of the country. Within the economic system, goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed.

 Every society makes use of technology.

The Indian economy had undergone tremendous changes over the years. In early years the Indian economy was based on agriculture and then industry. Today India has opened up its market for foreign investments and is not part of the rising global world economies. All this is a result of globalisation.

POLITICAL – Every culture has a political organisation through which they are able to maintain social order. Through political organisation power is legitimately used in a society in order to regulate behaviour. 

India follows a democratic system of government with a secular society. The Indian constitution has incorporated all its different communities as part of its political system. The government is operated through universal adult franchise and is based on the ideal a government of the people, by the people and for the people. 

RELIGION – Religion plays an important role in the life of an individual and is human need. It is a set of attitudes, beliefs and practices pertaining to the glorification of the supernatural power. Rituals, prayers and other spiritual exercises are usually a part of the religious practices. Beliefs vary not only within cultures buy also from society to society over time. Religion provides meaning and order in people’s life. It reduces social anxiety and gives people a sense of control over their destiny. It also helps preserve social order and provides a sense of community. 

Religion can be polytheistic (many Gods) or monotheistic (one God). In India religion forms the core of tradition. Hinduism is one of the main religions but along with it Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism exist. All these religions have an influence on Indian culture.

 

TECHNOLOGY – Technology is the collection of techniques, methods or processes which are used in the production of goods and services and the knowledge of using these techniques and processes. Technology has played an important role in society and culture as it has helped progress through industrialisation and thus advancement of economy. Media technology too has played an important role in the socialisation process as well as development of culture. Mass media has been looked at both positively as well as negatively by various thinkers over the years. The syntheses of entertainment and information have created an infotainment society which is part of a globalised world. 

Thus technology has played a vital role not only in India but worldwide through advancements that have made the world a global village.

 

FOUCAULT- POWER AND AUTHORITY

Michel Foucault was a philosopher and twentieth century thinker. His work qualifies for interdisciplinary study as it has been found relevant to fields as different as Art, Philosophy, History, Anthropology, Geography, Archaeology, Communication Studies, etc.

Foucault's theory states that knowledge is power. knowledge linked to power, not only assumes the authority of 'the truth' but has the power to make itself true.

For Foucault, Power and Knowledge are not seen as independent entities but are inextricably related - knowledge is always an exercise of power and power always a function of knowledge.

According to Foucault knowledge should transform a person. 

Foucault believed that neither knowledge nor power is a commodity – these cannot be owned and used whenever one feels like. According to him power was not concentrated in fixed entities like the state or the ruling classes. He argued that power or authority was exercised by everyone at all levels. He saw knowledge and power as complementary and explained it by referring to doctors and patients. A doctor has power over his patient because of the knowledge he has acquired about illnesses and their treatments.

Foucault does not believe in typifying power nor does he think that there can be only one institution that can have authority concentrated in it. He believes power and authority are exercised by all and sundry which goes against the grain of Marxist and other conflict theories. He interprets power in terms of political struggle characterized by cultural identity and not economic status