The new edition remains essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of cultural studies, media studies, communication studies, the sociology of culture, popular culture and other related subjects.
Whether used on its own or in conjunction with Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction, this reader is a theoretical, analytical, and historical introduction to the study of popular culture within cultural studies. The readings cover the culture and civilization tradition, culturalism, structuralism and poststructuralism, Marxism, feminism, and postmodernism, as well as current debates in the study of popular culture.New to this edition:Four new readings by Stuart Hall, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Judith Butler, and Savoj ŽižekFully revised general and section introductions that contextualize and link the readings with key issues in Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An IntroductionFully updated bibliographyIdeal for courses in:cultural studiesmedia studiescommunication studiessociology of culturepopular culturevisual studiescultural criticism
cultural theory and popular culture john storey download
This revised and fully updated version of John Storey's best-selling survey is an accessible introduction to the range of theories and methods that have been used to study contemporary popular culture. The book also provides a map of the development of cultural studies through discussion of its most influential approaches. Organized around a series of case studies, each chapter focuses on a different media form and presents a critical overview of the methodology for the actual study of popular culture. Individual chapters cover topics such as television, fiction, film, newspapers and magazines, popular music, and consumption (fan culture and shopping).For students new to the field, the book provides instantly usable theories and methods; for those more familiar with the procedures and politics of cultural studies, it provides a succinct and accessible overview.This edition has been revised, rewritten, and expanded throughout. The book now includes new sections on television audiences, reception theory, and globalization.
The book presents an accessible introduction to the range of theories and methods which have been used to study contemporary popular culture. Doing this, it also provides a map of the development of cultural studies through discussion of its most influential approaches. Organised around a series of case studies, each chapter focuses on a different media form and presents a critical overview of the methodology for the actual study of popular culture. Individual chapters cover topics such as television, fiction, film, newspapers and magazines, popular music, consumption (television, fan culture and shopping), and the culture of globalisation.
Taken as a whole, this book provides a theoretical, analytical, and historical introduction to the study of popular culture and provides key primary coverage of fundamental issues in cultural studies.
The new edition is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of cultural studies, media studies, communication studies, the sociology of culture, popular culture, and other related subjects.
Popular culture is the set of practices, beliefs, and objects that embody the most broadly shared meanings of a social system. It includes media objects, entertainment and leisure, fashion and trends, and linguistic conventions, among other things. Popular culture is usually associated with either mass culture or folk culture, and differentiated from high culture and various institutional cultures (political culture, educational culture, legal culture, etc.). The association of popular culture with mass culture leads to a focus on the position of popular culture within a capitalist mode of economic production. Through this economic lens, popular culture is seen as a set of commodities produced through capitalistic processes driven by a profit motive and sold to consumers. In contrast, the association of popular culture with folk culture leads to a focus on subcultures such as youth cultures or ethnic cultures. Through this subculture lens, popular culture is seen as a set of practices by artists or other kinds of culture makers that result in performances and objects that are received and interpreted by audiences, both within and beyond the subcultural group. Holistic approaches examine the ways that popular culture begins as the collective creation of a subculture and is then appropriated by the market system. Key issues in the sociological analysis of popular culture include the representation of specific groups and themes in the content of cultural objects or practices, the role of cultural production as a form of social reproduction, and the extent to which audiences exercise agency in determining the meanings of the culture that they consume.
What Marx is suggesting is that the way a society organizes the means of its eco-nomic production will have a determining effect on the type of culture that society pro-duces or makes possible. The cultural products of this so-called base/superstructurerelationship are deemed ideological to the extent that, as a result of this relationship,they implicitly or explicitly support the interests of dominant groups who, socially,politically, economically and culturally, benefit from this particular economic organiza-tion of society. In Chapter 4, we will consider the modifications made by Marx andFrederick Engels themselves to this formulation, and the way in which subsequentMarxists have further modified what has come to be regarded by many cultural criticsas a rather mechanistic account of what we might call the social relations of culture andpopular culture. However, having said this, it is nevertheless the case that
Mass culture theory argues that industrialisation and capitalism have transformed society. Previously, people used to be closely connected through meaningful common mythologies, cultural practices, music, and clothing traditions. Now, they are all consumers of the same, manufactured, pre-packaged culture, yet unrelated to and disintegrated from each other.
According to Adorno and Horkheimer, who were both members of the Frankfurt School, mass culture was the widespread American low culture that had developed during industrialisation. It is often said to have replaced agricultural, pre-industrial folk culture. Some sociologists claim that mass culture was replaced by popular culture in postmodern society.
Mass culture theory argues that industrialisation and capitalism have transformed society. Previously, people used to be closely connected through meaningful common mythologies, cultural practices, music, and clothing traditions. Now, they are all consumers of the same, manufactured, pre-packaged culture, yet unrelated to and disintegrated from each other.
Postmodernists, like Dominic Strinati (1995), were critical of mass culture theory, which they accused of elitism. They believed in cultural diversity and saw popular culture as a great field for that. Strinati argued that it is extremely difficult to give a definition of taste and style, which is different for everybody depending on their personal history and social context. 2ff7e9595c
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