As the definitions show the words carry different meanings depending on the context that they are used in. This is also true when the words are placed together, but a further influence has had an effect upon the term which has led to further clouding of its meaning, this being the concept of ideology.
The ideas that form the basis of theory, ideology is something that not even Karl Marx was able lay down a clear definition of. It shares much of the same ground with culture, yet there is one sector that separates them, politics. There are various definitions that make up ideology, with many of them implementing division between people, namely the powerful and the powerless. This divide can be constructed in many ways, one being the presentation of distorted texts or practices in society that result in the creation of a ‘false consciousness’. Furthermore it is also argued that the image of the world that texts create has to present a view, be it good or bad, the consequence of which means that the audience is being subjected to a political stance. Frenchmen Louis Althusser and Roland Barthes have also contributed heavily to this debate, with the former believing that social customs have been ambushed and resold as ideological practices, such as Christmas which provides society with a break in the hope that it will return to the workplace refreshed and looking forward to the next break, oblivious to its exploitation. Barthes meanwhile observed the effect connotations of words carry in texts and practices, whilst also looking at the ‘hegemonic struggle’ (John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, page 6, 1993) to control and create connotations by the powerful.
And so it is that through a combination of culture and ideology the term popular culture has developed. It is at this point where conflict arises though over what the term really does mean, which has resulted in the creation of a number of theories.
Culture that is widely consumed or liked, which can be measured through investigation of sales is one thought, but this then leads to further debate over what figure is set as popular.
There is also the idea that whatever is left from high culture becomes its popular counterpart, but this then leads to conflict over what high culture is as certain texts or practices have at one point been part of both. An example of this being Shakespeare’s plays, which at the time of writing would have been seen as popular culture, but are now seen as high culture.
The notion that it is ‘mass culture’, which then leads onto commercialisation and the ‘Americanization’ theory. This involves the theory that culture is ‘mass produced for mass consumption’ (John Storey, Cultural theory and popular culture, page 10, 1993) and that those consuming are oblivious to their exploitation. This is then connected to a sense that this component of our culture has been imported from America as it is seen by many as the birthplace of commercialisation.
In contrast a further theory suggests that those responsible for popular culture are the people themselves, contending other theories that claim it is something enforced upon us by the powerful. This view does leave unanswered questions though, one being who do we define as being ‘the people’?
Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci has also contributed with the concept of hegemony. ‘The hegemony of a political class meant for Gramisci that class had succeeded in persuading the other classes of society to accept its own moral, political and cultural values’ (Joll, J 1977, in An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture, page 165, Dominic Strinati, 1995). With this Gramsci proposed that dominant groups in society are able to impose themselves over subordinate groups in a bid to gain control over them.
The postmodernist has also added to the debate with the idea that there is now no difference between high and popular culture, all culture is in fact post-modern culture. This has resulted in further clouding of the difference between commerce and culture, with the two now often overlapping.
And so it is that popular culture is an ever changing terrain that has many influences, be they historical texts such as music or literature, or lived cultures and practices such as religious festivals. A product of industrialisation due to the manner in which the period changed relations within the cultural landscape, it would appear that its interpretation can vary depending on what has influenced the definer, as this quote shows.
‘People are constantly struggling, not merely to figure out what a text means, but to make it mean something that connects to their own lives, experiences, needs and desires. The same text will mean different things to different people, depending on how it is interpreted. And different people have different interpretive resources, just as they have different needs.’ (Lawrence Grossberg 1992, in Cultural Studies and the Study of Popular Culture, page 6, John Storey, 1996).
Bibliography
Storey, J. (1993), Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Storey, J. (1996), Cultural Studies and the Study of Popular Culture; Theories and Methods, Edinburgh University Press.
Strinati, D. (1995), An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture, Routledge.
Turner, G. (1990), British Cultural Studies; An Introduction, Unwin Hyman.
