globalisation and popular culture Flashcards
popular culture
linked to passive and unchallenging entertainment,
designed to be sold to a large number of people.
It is dumbed down and demands little critical thought, rarely challenging existing cultural ideas.
Examples: television and soap operas
high culture
treated with respect and reverence because it has lasting artistic value, and part of a heritage worth preserving -
aimed at middle class audiences.
Examples: ballet, statues, old paintings, choir music
the changing distinction between high and popular culture
Postmodernists - the distinction is weakening.
The global reach of contemporary media makes a huge range of media available to everyone
enables original music and art to be consumed by people in their own homes without visiting specialized institutions
Strinati - elements of high culture have now become a part of popular culture, so there is no longer any
real distinction
e.g Technology has made it possible for mass audiences to see paintings by artists like Van Gogh, on the internet and have their own framed print
hanging on their wall.
popular/mass culture Ao3 - negatives
marxists see mass culture as simply mass-produced
manufactured products imposed on people by global businesses for financial profit
Popular mass culture is a form of social control, giving an illusion of choice
maintains the power of the dominant social class because consumers are lulled into an uncritical, undemanding passivity making them less likely to challenge the dominant ideas
popular/mass culture Ao3 - strengths
Strinati - points to a
wide diversity and choice within popular culture, which people select from and critically respond to
examples:
TV soap operas educate and inform the public about important or
controversial social issues
a global popular culture
Globalization has undermined national and local cultures
cultural and consumer
products are now sold across the world, spreading
a popular culture which makes cultures more a like
= is known as cultural homogenization
Sklair - The media blurs differences between entertainment, information, and the promotion of products.
It then sells the world ideas, values and products associated with what is presented as an idealised Western lifestyle.
= encourages acceptance of the dominant ideology of Western capitalist societies
Ritzer - companies and brands operate on a global scale, promoting a global
culture along with the consumer lifestyles associated with them
global popular culture Ao2
companies like Apple
use the transnational media to promote products on a global scale, making their logos known to everyone.
cultural and media imperialism
fenton
the term ‘global’ rarely means ‘universal’, and normally disguises the
domination of Western culture over other cultures.
Most media conglomerates are now based in
the United States and dominate global communications
= described as a process of cocacolonization
consumerism has been forced onto non-western cultures
Fuch
Global media presents the
illusion of consumer choice,
but most content is
controlled by a few
conglomerates,
cultural imperialism ao3
Cultural
imperialism overlooks how
cultures interact, assuming
dominant cultures simply
impose without reciprocal
influence. - fails to recognize
how global and local
cultures blend, creating
hybrid cultures
underestimates
how resilient local cultures
can adapt, resist, or
transform global cultural
influences.
pluralist view of the media and globalisation of popular culture
there is no such thing as popular or mass culture.
The internet, satellite… all offer a huge range of media products = gives consumers a wide diversity of cultural choices
Tomlinson: there is a hybridization or mixing of cultures. People pick ‘n’ mix and draw on both Western/global cultures and their own local cultures
New media technology enables people to generate their own popular culture
pluralist view of the media and globalisation of popular culture Ao3
Even if media conglomerates are spreading Western ideas this does not mean that all cultures will react in the same way or adopt the Western culture and consumer lifestyles the global media promote.
consumers and audiences now have more choices and knowledge available to them
This makes it more difficult for any one set of ideas or culture to dominate in the world = a promotion of democracy.
Critical view of the media and globalisation of popular culture
globalization of popular culture is an advantage to the media owners, who gain profits from exporting and advertising their products across the globe.
Thussu: the globalization of television and
advertising has led to TV news across the world becoming more like entertainment - what he calls ‘global infotainment’, designed both to entertain and to inform
- is accompanied by the promotion of Western consumerist lifestyles and diverts people’s attention away from more serious issues
mass culture lulls consumers into an uncritical, undemanding passivity
Critical view of the media and globalisation of popular culture Ao3
media are only one element in shaping our lives.
gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age, social class, are likely
to influence how we select, interpret and respond to the media.
postmodern view of the media and globalisation of popular culture
The diversity of the globalised media is offering more choices in terms of consumption patterns and lifestyles, opening up a greater global awareness and access to a diversity of cultures
Baudrillard: we now live in a media-saturated society, where media images dominate and distort the way we see the world.
E.g The TV news presents a sanitized version of war
calls this distorted view of the world hypereality
the media present what he calls simulacra - artificial make-believe images
the media no longer reflect reality but actively create it.
Strinati: the power of the media in shaping consumer choices. bombard us daily and form our sense of reality and increasingly dominate the way we define ourselves.
postmodern view of the media and globalisation of popular culture Ao3
Media globalization offers the
illusion of choice, but content
is often controlled by a few
powerful corporations,
limiting diversity.
poorest social groups and the poorest countries of the world, simply do not have access to new media
