01 Pop Culture.pptx

Religious
Studies 2812:
Religion and
Popular Culture
What is Culture?
•  Culture, High Culture and Pop Culture - some definitions
• Anthropological definition of Culture:
The system of shared
beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artifacts that the members of
society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are
transmitted from generation to generation through learning. (Bates & Plog, p.
7).
• UN definition of Culture:
A set of distinctive spiritual, material,
intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group and that
it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living
together, value systems, traditions and beliefs". (http://www.unesco.org/education/
imld_2002/unversal_decla.shtml)]
• Definition of high culture: High culture is often associated with art
forms such as opera, classical music, ballet, literature and fine arts. It is
widely perceived as the work of professional artists, serious in intent,
valuable, and aimed mainly at an elite and educated audience. http://
www.vceart.com/resources/glossary/glossary.html
Pop
Culture
Pop Culture: The opposite of high cultural art forms, such as
the opera, historic art, classical music, traditional theater or
literature; popular culture includes many forms of cultural
communication including newspapers, television, advertising,
comics, pop music, radio, cheap novels, movies, jazz, etc. In the
beginning of the 20th Century, "high art" was the realm of the
wealthy and educated classes while popular culture or "low art"
was considered commercial entertainment for the lower classes.
In the 1950s and 60s the gulf between high and low art closed
with the rise of Pop Art…in which artists incorporated imagery
and/or media from popular culture such as advertisements, mass
produced objects, movies, and
comics. (www.artsconnected.com)
Theories of Pop culture
1.  Aristocratic theory of Mass culture •  pop culture = threat to civilization, moral degeneracy, undermining
true values of religion, art, civilization. •  Ironically, high art frequently comes in for the same criticism Is Pop culture really pop?
Theories of Popular Culture: 2.  Socialist Theory of Cultural Industry and Consumer Capitalism
•  the masses are dominated by elite culture industry, that tells people
what to like, what to choose, what to watch… so as to sell products.
• 
Marxist point - who owns the Means of cultural production?
Corporate Rap?
•  Corporate sponsorship - –  Its about the bling, not the art… ?
–  Does corporate sponsorship invalidate/undermine pop ?
Corporate (Soda) Pop?
What is being sold here?
Corporate Pop?
•  Terry Tate, Office Linebacker - 2003 Superbowl ad makes Reebok
9th most active website on the web.
•  308% increase in web traffic. 1.6 million downloads in 3 days
following (pay per view). 68% increase in purchase willingness.
More than 7 million downloads since. What are we anyway?
Suckers?
Where s the Spoof?
•  Are audiences complacently accepting the corporatization of
pop culture? Where are the parodies, the spoofs?
–  The commercialization of pop culture fads, the commercialization of
spoofing of pop culture fads!
•  Is pop culture entirely commercial?
Suckers… or not?
•  Pop appropriation
of corporate
marketing symbol
- going where
Reebok would
never dare go…
The South Butt?
• 
We are not in any fashion related to nor do we want to be confused
with The North Face Apparel Corp. or its products sold under “The North
Face” brand. If you are unable to discern the difference between a face
and a butt, we encourage you to buy North Face products. •  So… pop culture not entirely corporate? Corporate products
open for appropriation and reinterpretation by consumers/
audiences?
Theories of Pop Culture, con t.
3.  Pop Culture as dialogic - •  Pop Culture as the combination of
culture industry creations, folkloric
elements, high culture elements,
counter-cultural elements, etc. - various
communities of discourse engaged in
production, consumption, counterproduction, commentary, acceptance,
rejection, etc. of cultural products.
•  Fans/consumers as textual poachers those who appropriate popular texts
and reread them in a fashion that serves
different interests… fans construct their
cultural and social identity through
borrowing and inflecting mass culture
images, articulating concerns which
often go unvoiced within the dominant
media. (Jenkins 1992, p.23)
Consumers/Fans as Textual
Poachers?
•  Cross-over pop culture cultural products enter
popular consciousness,
become metaphor,
commentary on other
social phenomena.
•  Pop culture as reflexive looking at itself,
reinterpreting itself?
•  Nerf Herder (punk/pop) Star Wars, Buffy, Trek
crossovers.
Consumers/Fans as Textual
Poachers?
•  Cultural products as transgressive (for example slash
videos, fanfic, etc. - transgressing official meaning
to read and tell counter-cultural meaning…
Theories of Pop Culture, con t.
4.  Pop Culture as Subversive
- Pop Culture can challenge mainstream
norms, undermine
political hegemonies, etc.
- Dixie Chicks political
protest - subversive?
- New verb - to be
dixie chicked ?
- Conspiracy theories…
were the Dixie chicks ever
blacklisted? Theories of Pop Culture, con t.
4.  Can mainstream/corporate
Pop Culture still be
Subversive?
5.  Avatar: - anti-mining, antiforestry
- anti-military
- anti-corporate
- pro-environmentalist
- pro-nature spirituality
So, what does
this all have to
do with
religion?… stay
tuned for next
class!