Exam Questions Flashcards
What Is Culture? (Williams, Arnold & Historical Context)
Definitions & Etymology
- Latin colere → inhabit, cultivate, worship → links to agriculture & colonization.
- Pre-1800: Culture = growth (human development).
- Post-1800: Culture = intellectual, moral, and artistic achievements.
Matthew Arnold: “Culture & Anarchy” (1869)
- Culture = “study of perfection” → moral & intellectual refinement.
- Advocated for education in high culture to avoid anarchy (after Second Reform Act, 1867 -> lower men could vote).
- Critique: Elitist—saw working-class culture as inferior.
Raymond Williams: Three Meanings of Culture
- Process: a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic
- Lifestyle: a particular way of life, whether of people, a period, a group or humanity in general (aligns with Herder -> plural cultures)
- Product: abstract noun which describe the works and practices of intellectual and especially aristic activity
- Key Idea: “Culture is Ordinary” → Includes everyday life, not just elite art.
Historical Context & Cultural Studies:
- 19th Century: Enlightenment, Industrialization, Revolutions → Ideas of progress & civilization.
- 20th Century: Williams, Hoggart & Thompson → Cultural Studies (focus on working-class culture).
- “Structure of Feeling” (Williams) → Culture is shaped by shared emotions & historical context
What is popular culture?
Stuart Hall & Cultural Studies
- Culture is not static → it emerges through social practices
- People are active agents → they shape and express culture, not just passively receive it
- Culture is tied to historical and social conditions
John Storey’s Six Definitions of Popular Culture
Widely Favored Culture
- Defined by popularity (how many like it?)
- Issue: Hard to measure “well-liked” objectively
What’s Left After High Culture
- Popular culture = residual category (not high culture)
- Problem: Reinforces elitist distinctions
Mass Culture
- Commercial, mass-produced, formulaic
- Critique: People don’t just consume blindly, and not all mass culture is bad
Folk Culture
- Created “from the people, for the people”
- Issue: Hard to define who “the people” are today
Site of Struggle
- Tension between dominant and subordinate groups
- Culture is shaped by resistance and incorporation
Postmodern View
- No more distinction between high and popular culture
- Question: If everything is the same, does culture lose meaning?
Theoretical Perspectives
- Pierre Bourdieu → Cultural capital & taste maintain social exclusivity
- Antonio Gramsci → Hegemony: Dominant groups seek consent rather than force
- Chantal Mouffe → Articulation: Cultural meanings are fluid and changeable
What is mass culture?
Key Aspects:
- Commericalized and profit driven: not for artistic value but economic profti
- Mass production and consumption: it’s formualaic (hollywood, pop music)
- Passive consumptions: consumers in a collective dreamworld, brain numbed
- Imposed from above
Problems and Criticism:
- Consumers don’t passively consume, a lot of things fail (studies show)
- Loss of authenitic fold culutre -> cultural decline
Choose one definition of popular culture and explain it
I would choose Definition 5: Popular culture as a site of struggle because it highlights the power dynamics involved in culture.
According to this view, popular culture is not just something imposed from above or created purely by the people—it is a constant negotiation between dominant and subordinate groups:
- Dominant groups (those in power) try to shape culture to maintain control.
- Subordinate groups (marginalized or less powerful) resist and create their own cultural expressions.
- This struggle leads to a compromise equilibrium—dominant groups can’t completely suppress resistance, and subordinate groups influence culture in return.
This idea is linked to Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, which argues that power is maintained through consent, not just force. Dominant groups must continuously adjust to maintain control.
A good example is punk music in the 1970s. It started as a rebellious, anti-establishment movement, but over time, elements of punk were absorbed into mainstream culture (e.g., fashion brands selling “punk” clothing). This shows how culture is always shifting through struggle.
So, this definition captures the dynamic, political nature of popular culture—it’s not just about entertainment, but about power and resistance.
What is the linguistic sign (Ferdinand de Saussure)?
Link between concept (signified) and sound pattern (signifier) (or picture)
- referent: represents the sign
- E.g. the word dog refers to the idea of a dog, not a specefic one
Derives value from difference between other signs:
- minimal difference: phonemes (cat and bat)
- semantic difference: semes
Signs are arbitrary (no inherent connection between signified and signifier) and conventional (meaning maintened through social agreement)
Semiotic vs. Discursive Approach to Representation
Semiotic Approach
- Focuses on how meaning is produced by signs.
- Meaning comes from differences between signs in a system (e.g., Saussure’s theory of signifier and signified).
- Signs are arbitrary (no natural connection between sign and meaning) and conventional (based on social agreements).
- Examples: Pop music vs. rock music codes; dress codes; genre codes in film.
- Focuses on the “how” of representation—how signs and symbols form meaning.
Discursive Approach
- Focuses on how representations create power and knowledge.
- Representation is tied to power relations, as seen in Foucault’s work.
- Knowledge is linked to power: those who control discourse control knowledge and, by extension, power.
- Examples: Macaulay’s argument on Indian education (power of Western knowledge over native languages, legitimizing colonization).
- Focuses on the “why” and “what for” of representation—how representations shape societal norms and practices.
Key Differences
- Semiotic: Concerned with the structure and how meaning is encoded (the “poetics”).
- Discursive: Concerned with the effects and how power relations shape knowledge (the “politics”).
Explain one historical time period of your choice
Key Developments of the 16th Century
Renaissance & Humanism
- begins in italy and spreads across Europe
- Revival of Greek & Roman literature
- Focus on reason, education, and human potential
Tudor Dynasty (1485–1603)
- War of the Roses (1455–1487) → Ends with Henry VII’s victory
- Elizabeth I (1558–1603): Transition between medieval & modern age
Elizabethan World Picture
- Great Chain of Being: Fixed divine hierarchy
Major Transformations
- The Reformation (1534) Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy → Anglican Church established (Religious tensions between Catholics & Protestants)
- Printing Press (1470s, William Caxton) -> Increased literacy & spread of new ideas
- Economic & Social Changes-> Rise of proto-capitalism & merchant class
- European Expansion -> England beigns overseas exporation and trade
Elizabethan Cultural Golden Age
- Patronage of the arts → Growth of drama & poetry
- Key figures: Shakespeare, Marlowe, Sidney, Spenser
- Theatres built: The Theatre (1576), Globe (1599)
The Spanish Armada (1588): England defeats Spain → Establishes naval power
What is Roland Barthes’ concept of myth in history?
- Myth is constituted by the loss of historical quality of things
Key Features of Myth:
- Removes historical complexity → Presents events as simple truths. (Britain stood alone in WWII -> A lot of countries helped)
- Used for political & ideological purposes → E.g., Britain “stood alone” in WWII in Brexit convos
- Makes ideas seem natural & eternal → E.g., “boys like blue, girls like pink.” (just social construct not inherint)
- Efficient & persuasive → Not about truth, but about how things are made to seem true.
Function of myth:
- empty reality / history and fill it with nature
- romanticising the past
- natural things explanation
- political tool -> shaping national identity
What is subjectivity?
Definiton: combination of conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions that shape our sense of self and how we relate to the world.
- unlike humanist perspective -> we are both actors in the world and subects shaped by outside forces
Humanist perspective: self is seen as independent from outside forces, its stable, self-determinded
Anti Humanist perspective:
- self is fragmented
- shaped by historical, social and cultural factors
-> A lot of the time we think we are rational self thinking human being, but underestimate unconsciuos biases and expectatoins
Foucalt concept of discourse:
- discourses are system of knoweldge and power
- e.g. ideas about mental health and gender are not personal beliefs but shaped by history and culture discourse
- e.g. growing up in traditoinal or progressive household shapes our view
Essentialist vs non essentialist view on identity
Essentialist vs. Non-Essentialist Views on Identity:
Essentialist view:
- Identity is fixed and inherent (unchanging).
- Based on inherent traits (e.g., biological markers like race, sex, religion).
- Example: The notion that someone’s identity as “Asian” or “European” is rooted in intrinsic, unchangeable characteristics.
Non-Essentialist view:
- Identity is fluid, socially constructed, and dependent on time, place, and context.
- Example: The way someone identifies (e.g., as “Japanese” or “American”) may change based on cultural, social, or personal factors.
What is subject interpollation?
Interpellation (Louis Althusser’s concept):
- The process by which individuals are “hailed” or addressed by social structures (e.g., laws, cultural norms) that position them in certain ways, often without their conscious awareness.
Example:
- The experience of being stopped by the police is an act of interpellation, where you are addressed as a subject of the law, shaping your identity within that context.
Concept of Race and Ethnicity: Essentialist vs. Non-Essentialist Approaches
Race
Essentialist View
- Race is biological and fixed, rooted in natural differences (e.g., skin color, intelligence).
- Supports racial hierarchies and social divisions based on biology.
Non-Essentialist View
- Race is a social construction shaped by power and social contexts.
- Race does not exist outside representation and is not biological.
Ethnicity
- Formed by cultural boundaries, shared values, and practices.
- Non-essentialist: Ethnic groups are not based on inherent characteristics but are shaped by social processes and historical contexts.
- Both race and ethnicity intersect with other identity positions (e.g., class, gender).
Does the UK have a consitution?
UK does not have a constitution in common sense (a document setting out structure of government)
- only in an abstract sense (containg diversive laws and conventions) -> unwritten constitution (comparative perspective)
- Constitution is always in a state of change, because each act of parliament is part
The constitution consists of:
- statute law (all acts of parliament that have been passed)
- common law (court decisions)
- conventions
- certain ancient documents (magna carta, bill of rights)
- before Brexit: EU law
