Professional Documents
Culture Documents
UCAM
1.1.
In reality, cultural studies is a little bit like that. Lets see. If we start at the beginning
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http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/culture
NOUN
noun
1. the quality in a person or society that
arises from a concern for what is regarded
as excellent in arts, letters, manners,
scholarly pursuits, etc.
2. that which is excellent in the arts,
manners, etc.
3. a particular form or stage of
civilization, as that of a certain nation or
period: Greek culture.
4. development or improvement of the
mind by education or training.
5. the behaviors and beliefs characteristic
of a particular social, ethnic, or age
group: the youth culture; the drug
culture.
culture - definition
/klt(r)/
singular culture
plural
cultures
Related dictionary
If you're looking for culture, then Paris is the place for you.
definitions
culture VERB
culture shock NOUN
[COUNTABLE] a society that has its own set of ideas, beliefs, and ways of behaving
ancient cultures
[COUNTABLE/UNCOUNTABLE] a set of ideas, beliefs, and ways of behaving of a particular
society
compensation culture
NOUN
Learning objectives:
To understand the birth of culture within a specific socio-historical moment, its
role in society and its evolution.
To understand the meaning of culture and what cultural studies do nowadays,
from the perspective of cultural studies as developed in the UK.
To develop critical thinking and to express personal opinions.
Rip it up1
http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=tpeLSMKNFO4
Have you seen this film?
What happens here?
Arrncalo.
charge of preserving culture. Popular or mass culture was seen as a force which
nullified people and made them passive consumers of whatever they were fed. Therefore
the role of high culture was to resist this overwhelming force.
The new generations of critics understood culture as a whole way of life, everything is a
possible object of study. For them popular culture appears as a reaction to a social
situation in which certain cultures appear as a rebellion against the dominant culture.
The material that follows is the presentation and contextualization of this evolution.
The meaning of the term culture has changed over time, especially in the period of the
transition from traditional social formations to modernity.
The first and earliest meaning of culture can be found in writing in the fifteenth
century when the word was used to refer to the tending of crops (cultivation) or looking
after animals. This meaning is retained in modern English in words such as agriculture
and horticulture.
By the eighteenth century, culture had acquired distinct class overtones. Only the
wealthy classes of Europe could aspire to such a high level of refinement. The modern
meaning of culture, which associates it with the arts, is also closely related to this
definition
Lets start at the beginning.
1.2.
CAPITAL C.
The industrial revolution took place in the 19th century. Which effects did the industrial
revolution have on society? think mainly about the workers...
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION:
The towns offered a better chance of work and higher wages than the
countryside, where many families were trapped in dire poverty and
seasonal employment. On the other hand, the countryside was
healthier. A baby born in a large town with a population of more than
100,000 in the 1820s might expect to live to 35 - in the 1830s, life
expectancy was down to a miserable 29. In 1851, a boy born in inner
Liverpool had a life expectancy of only 26 years, compared with a boy
born in the small market town of Okehampton, who could expect to
live to 57.
In 1854, the commissioners appointed to enquire into the cholera
outbreak in Newcastle-upon-Tyne found that about 50 per cent of
families had only a single room. Most houses did not have an
independent water supply or privy, and what was shared was often
the responsibility of no one. The low life-expectancy of babies born
into such conditions is easily explained.
Which effects do you think it had on this argument? The industrial revolution
dehumanized people and thats why Arnold was so concerned about the nurturing of the
soul/intellect. He believed this was very much needed in a society obsessed with
materialism, unrestricted competition, making a lot of money, a time with huge dissent
in religion and politics. Culture is needed in order to educate people, not only the upper
classes but the working classes too.
Arnold didnt believe it was in the hand of the upper classes to bring about culture, for
him this was classless and it could only come from a disinterested search and pursuit of
knowledge. This was a necessary condition to make the best that has been thought and
known in the world current everywhere (Arnold in Walton 2008:20)
The Leavises portrayed a very specific image of British history, talking about
Shakespeares times as better, more pure and fuller, where the Industrial Revolution had
not yet spoiled and shattered the unity of a healthy organic, common culture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgnInT4x8kA
&feature=related
PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITY:
To frown upon
To bait
Bawdy
Outlawed
In the clink
Slang
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
Rowdy
To make a profit
Cobbled street
Brewery
Backstage
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Why did the bishop make a profit of the Winchester palace in Southwark?
Literary high or
minority culture
Vs.
POSITIVE
Organic, vital,
common folk
culture
NEGATIVE
Products of
urban mass,
industrial
society.
LEAVISES. Question 4. Which impression do you get after watching this video?
Do you recognise her as part of your society?
LEAVISES. Question 5. Which social class do you indentify her in?
LEAVISES. Question 6. How do you feel about her? Do you feel sorry for her or
do you just laugh at her? Reflect on your answer and on the implications of your
feelings
According to the Leavises, in order to avoid barbarism from taking over society, it was
necessary:
1st To learn how to discriminate which cultural objects are worthy of study. Who
do you think, would according to the Leavises be the right people to do so?
Yes, you are correct, the educated few.
2nd For this to happen, we need to establish a cannon, in order to be able to
discern the good from the bad. It is necessary to train peoples critical awareness. Which
they obviously did in The Great Tradition (1948), Culture and Environment (1933)2 and
Revaluation (1936)
The Leavises also talk about the danger of the Americanization of society. LEAVISES.
Question 7. What do you think about it? Do you see it as a threat or as something
positive?
2
This defence of high society against the barbaric forces of industrialization carries with
it the idea of RESISTANCE.
Cultured minorities
They cultivate minds through high arts
and provide ways of discriminating
between great and inferior forms of
culture.
They are involved in consciousnessraising projects.
They provide training to counterbalance
the worst effects of industrial machine
culture and set up resistance against the
devaluation of emotions and the quality of
life.
The masses
Enjoy mass culture in a passive or
uncritical way with no sense of taste.
Thomson and Leavis saw mass culture as a means by which to manipulate. LEAVISES.
Question 8. What do you think? Do you agree? Can you give examples of real life
where you think this happens?
Therefore the study of culture requires interpretation, but with a specific end, to make
people aware of the invisible forces around them in order to improve society.
1.2.3. T. S. ELIOT.
He continued with the idea of cultured elites whose main role was to uphold
civilization.
He emphasized the importance and relation of culture as a way of life. This
culture can be visible in the social system, the arts, customs, habits and religion.
He asserted that cultures affect each other.
(For further information on this stance also see Theodor Adorno and the Frankfurt
School)
1.3.
Main works:
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Culture is...
a particular way of life, which expresses certain meanings and values not only
in art and learning but also in institutions and ordinary behaviour. The analysis
of culture, from such a definition, is the clarification of the meaning and values
implicit in a particular way of life, a particular culture... the characteristic forms
through which members of the society communicate (Williams 2001:57)
John Storey describes how for Williams culture is a realised signifying system Storey
(2010: 4). What do you think he means? For example, look at this:
Storey explains that culture is a system by which meanings are created and shared.
While a Japanese person may be paying you complements, he/she actually means the
opposite. If you were to be a little honest... you would most definitely offend them.
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What he means is that culture is not specific to a social group, but it is in fact
everyones. Meaning-making is not something that belongs to a privileged few but to
everybody. However, we are not all involved in the process of making meaning to the
same degree, and that is when Gramscis theory will come into play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b
S1ePEZZCDY
So far we have spoken about society and changes in society.... there is something very
important in society which has a very important role in our life and we have not
discussed yet, in fact it has to do with the medium I have created this material with, and
I am using to present this to you... Yes, thats right, new technologies.
New Technologies and their effect in our society and on culture.
What do you think?
Raymond Williams: The medium by which culture is transmitted is important, but it
does not supersede the object, that is, technologies have undeniably changed the way we
communicate but they do not modify what we say. For example, text messages on the
mobile phone modified the way we started to write, twitter has helped us economise
words... technologies have changed the way we may communicate, perhaps even the
amount of exchanges we have with others, but they have not changed our reactions to
the world around us.
However....
McLuhan claims that Print technology created the public and that in turn electric
technology created the mass (McLuhan in Walton 2008:129) RAYMOND
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WILLIAMS. Question 12. What do you think about this? Who do you agree or
disagree with? Justify your answer.
Television has been around for a long time. RAYMOND WILLIAMS. Question 13.
How do you think the internet has changed the way television programmes are
produced? Which factors do you think have had an influence on this?
Finally another meaning of the word culture has emerged, which has had a considerable
impact on all the social sciences. It differs in emphasis from the other definitions,
however, by concentrating more on the symbolic dimension, and on what culture does
rather than on what culture is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxif
myYcOws&list=LP_xtfJcRSnP8&index
=1&feature=plcp
Lets have another look at Vicky
Pollard... now, from a cultural studies
stance...
STUART HALL. Question 14. Which
implications would you identify in this
video now? How would you deal with
this video in your classroom if you were to use it?
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1.4. Antonio Gramsci and the role of hegemony within cultural studies. Only
scratching the surface
Before going on any further it is important to clarify the term hegemony. What is
hegemony?
According to The Free Dicitonary hegemony is defined
as the dominance or leadership of one social group or
nation over others
You may wonder what this has to do with culture. Well, it has a lot to do with it. Do you
remember what we said in relation to Raymond Williams and the understanding of
culture as a realised signifying system? If you remember, we said that although every
single one of us is involved in the processes of the creation and sharing of meaning we
said that not all of us play the same role. According to Gramsci, the making of meaning,
like any other social activity, is inexorably involved with relations of power.
Specific forms of popular culture appear at specific moments in time and within a
specific social situation. Certain groups have appeared as a rebellion against the
dominant culture at the time... as a revolution. However, sometimes this rebellion has
become part of the dominant culture after a while. Can you think of an example?
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For example Reggae appeared as a rebellious movement against the dominant culture but... do
you think that nowadays it has the same protest objective as it did before? Do you listen to
Reggae music?
Popular or mass culture was described by the Leavises as something negative that numbed its
consumers, whereas nowadays popular culture is described as that which is widely favoured or
well liked by many people (Storey, 1993:7)
Now have a look at the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbr7
SWWgenU
Try to link these words with their meanings; you will need to understand them in order to better
understand this video.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
1.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
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Review
This works!
Clunky
Blend
Faux
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Vaudeville
Revue
Tap-dance
Drill
Swinging
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
Reviled
Sweetheart
To label
To get rid of something
Speak out
A type of popular entertainment of the late 19th and early 20th century, a kind of light
entertainment, where there could be a mixture of different types of art.
To state your opinion firmly and publicly about something.
To use a word or a phrase to describe someone or something.
A method of military training that involves practising things such as marching or holding
weapons.
Hated and criticized very much.
Large, solid, and heavy in a way that is not attractive.
Used for talking to someone who you love.
It functions properly.
Artificial.
Margarita Navarro Prez
This video was put up on the web in 2008, so it is not that far away in time. As you can see it is
an American creation. Actually, the fact that it is American is more important than you may
think. In the USA the terms high and low culture are still being used, whereas in the UK
experts in the field of cultural studies talk about dominant and popular culture.
In this course we will be looking at both dominant and popular culture, but always from the
perspective of cultural studies as they have developed in the UK.
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Further reading: Walton, D (2008) How to Dominate the Masses without Resorting to the
Inquisition: Antonio Gramsci and Hegemony Theory in Introducing Cultural Studies. Learning
through practice. London: Sage.
Bibliography:
Storey, J. (1993) An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. Hemel
Hempstead: Harvester Weatsheaf.
____. (2010) Culture and Power in Cultural studies. The politics if Signification. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press.
Walton, D. (2008) Introducing Cultural Studies. Learning through practice. London: Sage.
Williams, R. (2001) The Long Revolution. Hertfordshire: Encore Editions.
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/
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