POPULAR CULTURE AND MUSIC

Popular Culture and Music

Popular Culture and Music

Introduction

The term popular culture refers to the set of cultural patterns and artistic and literary preferably created or consumed by the common people, as opposed to an academic culture, high or official means of expression centered traditionally valued as superior and generally elitist and exclusionary (Fiske, J. 1989). Creators of popular culture use common and simple methods, materials and stays away from innovation. The audience of popular culture do not actually expect that the experiences of them will reflect conventions to what has been gone before and usually serve them in past (Strinati, D. 1995). Basically this popular culture is impersonal. There are many theories in regard to the popular cultural studies Popular Cultural studies are to investigate the dimensions of culture as lived in the world and how the world is being presented and is fashioned in the media as well as in literature of the everyday life. This field is usually interdisciplinary and is located at the point of intersection of social sciences and humanities (Fiske, J. 1989). The concept of this culture is derived from the theories of both the areas; however, the methods to this are primarily quantitative. It is studied to train the students in order to work analytically with the respect to the media, culture and literature; it also gives aid for the social and cultural understanding and also allows application of these understandings. The study of popular culture teaches skills which are useful in both the social and cultural areas (Wall, T. 2003). The areas where graduates work are includes , libraries, publishing, media along with cultural exchange and its management, organizing of exhibitions, and museum work, social work and industrial culture, schools and asylum seekers work , along with this it also involves settlement planning in cities and tourism.

Definition of 'Popular Culture' in View of Authors

The field of cultural studies combines political economy, the communication, the sociology, the social theory, and the literary theory, the theory of the media, the movies, the cultural anthropology, the philosophy and the study of cultural phenomena in various societies. The researchers of cultural studies often interested in how a particular phenomenon relates to matters of ideology, nationality, ethnicity, gender and social class (Strinati, D. 1995).

According to Raymond Williams's concept; “Culture is ordinary.” He elaborate his concept and says that “ we use 'culture' in two senses: one; to mean complete way of life which is the common meaning and the other is to mean arts and learning which is the process of discovering and making creative efforts.” He also stated that, “culture is ordinary in all minds and in every other society.” He further elaborates his views that, “there lie no masses in reality but only the ways through which we see people as masses.”

In the light to John Storey, “the cultural studies are more defined politically rather aesthetically.” It is also being considered as “the everyday ...