What is Culture, Definitions of Popular Culture

Main Ideas / Concepts Covered

• The course introduces popular culture and explains that its meaning is diverse, with many scholars offering different definitions.
• The lecture connects the study of popular culture to broader questions about:
  • Culture itself (how meanings have changed historically)
  • The boundary between popular vs. high/elite culture (and how it is debated and often blurred)
  • Power, class, politics, and ideology in how popular culture forms and is valued
  • Competing frameworks, including:
    • Marxism
    • Structuralism
    • Cultural hegemony
    • Mass/commercial culture
    • Contested political space
    • Postmodern blurring

Key Definitions of “Culture” (as Presented)

Raymond Williams’ Framing of “Culture” (General)

• Culture has complex and complicated meanings in English.
• It is defined (in multiple senses) as:

1. General process of intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development

   • Example context: Western Europe, including philosophers, spiritual/aesthetic ideals, and great artists/poets.

2. A particular way of life

   • Applies to people, periods, or groups.
   • Includes: religious beliefs, religious festivals, holidays, sport, literacy, etc.
   • Emphasis: how people live and the cultural/moral values surrounding daily life.

3. Work/practice of intellectual and especially artistic activity

   • Cultural productions are treated as “texts” (music, films, advertisements).
   • These texts/practices produce/signify meaning (sometimes described as producing meaning overall).

John Storey’s Approach (as Described)

• Storey discusses definitions of popular culture across theories (including Marxism and structuralism).
• The lecture focuses on clarifying:
  • what “culture” means
  • what “popular” means
  • then what “popular culture” means.

Williams on How “Culture” Became Common

• “Culture” became common in modern English usage around the Industrial Revolution.
• Culture is linked to historical transformation, and potentially to resistance in the context of industrial social change.

Key Definitions of “Popular” (as Presented)

Raymond Williams’ sense of “popular” includes:

• Current meaning: “well-liked by many people”
  • Often associated with mass culture.
• Inferior kind of work
  • Supports the high vs. low culture hierarchy (high-brow vs. low-brow).
• Deliberately designed to win favor with the people
  • Works are crafted to appeal to large audiences.
• Made by the people for themselves
  • Popular culture is framed as bottom-up, produced by ordinary people for their own use.

John Storey’s “Popular Culture” — Six Definitions (Detailed)

1) Popular = Widely Favored / Liked by Many

• Popular culture is what is well-liked by many.
• What counts as “popular” can change over time, but its core meaning remains widespread liking.

2) Residual Category: “Leftover” from High Culture

• Popular culture = what remains after:
  • high culture standards are applied, and
  • certain art/practices fail to qualify, so they are categorized as “popular.”
• This revives the high vs. low debate.
• Underlying assumptions described:
  • High culture is real, difficult, and exclusive (for those who can appreciate it).
  • Popular culture is treated as easy, not real, and inclusive (for the many rather than elites).

3) Popular Culture as Not Real/Difficult (Paired with Class Taste)

• In this view:
  • high culture = authentic and difficult
  • popular culture = easier and less authentic
• Pierre Bourdieu is used to explain “taste” as:
  • an ideological concept
  • tied to social and economic class
  • meaning taste signals status and identity.

4) Popular Culture as Mass-Produced Commercial Culture

• Popular culture is often described as mass-produced and commercial.
• Examples used:
  • Classic artworks become mass prints (e.g., Mona Lisa prints at home), suggesting commodification.
  • Works by Shakespeare and Dickens are described as later being absorbed into “high culture” after earlier popularity/less-elite status.
  • Film noir is described as shifting from popular entertainment to something preserved/validated academically or through clubs.
• Underlying issue:
  • Is cultural status determined by availability/commodification, or by quality standards?

5) Popular Culture as a Contested Ideological Battleground (Hegemony, Struggle, Negotiation)

• Popular culture involves constant struggle between:
  • dominant and subordinate groups
• It includes incorporation, which often serves dominant interests.
• It also includes interaction/negotiation, not one-sided control.
• Key points:
  • Meanings and labels shift over time
  • Boundaries between aristocratic/high and popular can blur
• Example:
  • Seaside holiday: once framed as aristocratic, later becomes accessible to the common populace.
• Connection to hegemony:
  • Popular culture is interpreted as ideological struggle between dominant and subordinate classes.
  • Resistance and incorporation coexist.
• Bennett is added:
  • Popular culture is shaped by hegemony and opposition
  • It is not purely top-down (not only imposed by elites)
  • It is not purely spontaneous resistance
  • It involves negotiation and boundary-crossing, with a complex interaction across politics, economy, class, and society.

6) Postmodern Definition: Boundary Between Popular and High Culture Dissolves

• In postmodernism/postmodern culture:
  • the distinction between popular and high culture is no longer meaningful or is blurred
  • blending/mixing creates a “melting pot” effect
  • parody/chaos and mixing are highlighted
• Example:
  • An artist’s song appears in a television commercial
  • The question becomes whether:
    • the song (art) is being sold, or
    • the product (commercial promotion) is being foregrounded
• This illustrates the postmodern blurring of cultural categories.

Main Lesson / Takeaway of the Lecture

• Popular culture cannot be reduced to a single meaning.
• It is debated through multiple lenses:
  • popularity, hierarchy (high/low), residual judgment, commercialization/mass culture, hegemony/contestation, and postmodern mixing.
• The lecture emphasizes that popular culture is:
  • political and ideological
  • shaped through power relations and negotiation
  • and often involves shifting boundaries between cultural categories.

Speakers / Sources Featured

• Raymond Williams
• John Storey (from Cultural Theory and Popular Culture; also referenced for the six definitions)
• Pierre Bourdieu (taste/class distinctions)
• Antonio Gramsci (hegemony-related framing)
• Stuart Hall (popular culture as a contested political construction; Birmingham School/cultural studies context)
• Bennett (commentary on hegemony/opposition and negotiation)

No other specific speakers are explicitly named in the subtitles.