Storey (2007) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. London: Pearson, pp181-211.

Hebdige describes Postmodernism as difficult to construct as it has been used in so many different debates and discourses, he describes postmodernism as a ‘Buzzword’.

New Sensibility is the idea that the distinction between high and low culture is less meaning full.

Lyotard believes that the postmodern condition is marked by a crisis in status of knowledge in western society e.g. collapse and rejection of all framework, Marxism, Christianity for example. The Postmodern condition is an ‘anything goes’ culture, a culture of slackening where taste is irrelevant and money the only sign of value. Postmodernism is that which breaks with one modernism to form a new modernism.

Baudrillard claims that we have reached a stage in social and economic development in which ‘it is no longer possible to separate the aconomic or productive realm from the realms of ideology or culture since culture artefacts, images and representations have become part of the world of economic. Shift in society from the production of things to the production of information.

Jameson argues that Postmodernism is a culture of pastiche.

Post Structuralism- response to structuralism, objection of grand narrative.

-Death of the Author

-Discourse

-Postmodernism

Postmodernism= after modernity

Modernity= an period

Modernism= an attitude

- A Philosophy

- A time-period

-An aesthetic

What is Postmodernism?

Death of History

Death of Meaning

Intertexuality

Collapse of Cultural Boundaries

Death of the Subject

Spectacle

Adorno, Theodor (2007) ‘On Popular Music’ in Storey, John (ed) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: a Reader. London: Pearson.

Within this text Adorno outlines ‘two spheres of music’  as ‘serious’ (non standardised) and ‘popular’ (standardised) music. Along with FR Leavis (1933), Adorno sees the standardisation as the structure of this type of media that is fed to the masses. The standardisation is not simply in the way music is produced but also in the way that it is received by the masses. The best known rule according to Adorno, is that a chorus consists of 32 bars and that the range is limited to one octave and one note.

The reasons for the standardization, according to Adorno, come not from the methods of production like ‘cars and breakfast foods’, but from the demands of the listener. The masses want relief from boredom and effort simultaneously and popular music works for this reason because it is ‘patterned and pre-digested’ – as mentioned before, we know the frameworks of a song before hearing it.

Adorno also looks at the ‘emotional’ listener who identifies with the celebrities formed through popular music. When you look at the celebrities around today who make ‘music’, it is often the construction of the singer/celebrity that catches the emotion of the listener, rather than the music itself. For example Justin Biever and One Direction could be a good example of this.

Frankfurt School Critique Popular Music

Though we studied The Music Industry to some extent in class I have chosen to focus on this for my Frankfurt School Critique again as this is where my interest lies. The particular text I have chosen to focus on is The X Factor. The reason I have chosen this particular media text is due to its control and commercialisation within my chosen industry.

Within The X Factor there are many notions of standardisation from the structure of the show, the contestants and the output and marketing of the 'winners'. The outset of the show starts with the 'auditions' leading on to a stage at the judges houses, before the infamous live shows. I think in terms of the Music Industry the final product of the 'talent' competition is the most interesting particularly in the last three years or so.

Pseudo Individualisation refers to Adorno's critique of mass culture, and is the means by which standardisation of mass produced media is disguised.

Week One. Williams, R - An Analysis of Culture - Reading Response.

Williams begins by structuring Culture into three categories, the 'ideal', the 'documentary' and the 'social'. To begin, the 'ideal' is the idea that culture is the state of human perfection in terms of values and is essentially the discovery and description in our lives of values which have a connection and reference to the permanent universal human condition. Secondly the 'documentary' is the idea that culture is the foundation of intellectual and human work. Finally the 'social' defines culture as a particular way of life and traditions within an individuals life which expresses certain meanings.

Culture is defined as a clarification and analysis of values implicit and explicit in a particular way of life and culture. Such analysis includes and is influenced by historical criticism in which intellectual and imaginary works are analysed in relation to traditions and behaviours and analysis of other ways of life which wouldn't necessarily be classed as culture such as family life and relationship structures.

Culture is a form of development and a key part of society and in individual circumstances. Williams suggests culture can be structured on two different levels, lived and recorded culture. A mid point between the two can be labeled as period culture which can be determined to conclude culture comes from either living a certain lifestyle or a pre determined culture.


He describes the theory of culture as ‘the study of relationships between elements in a whole way of life’. This definition combines the idea of three elements ideal, documentary and social together.

Williams then looks into the ‘structure of feeling’. He mentions how culture evolves and develops with the time meaning that experts at a particular time in a specific field may not be able to take in everything and pass on the information. Therefore the accounts of previous cultures are often misconstrued through biased records and do not have a structure of feeling within a culture. E.g Elements of our grandparents culture that we have read about may not be the same or have the same nostalgic view that people of that era have and may not convey the exact truth about their culture.

Arnold, Matthew (1869) ‘Culture and Anarchy’ and Leavis, F.R. (1930) ‘Mass Civilization and Minority Culture’ in Storey (2007)

Matthew Arnold

Why should sweetness and light prevail? 

The idea of sweetness and light is a term used to describe culture and it’s use, however, through Arnold’s work it seems to work as a late Nineteenth century view on the world and associated cultures.

Arnold discusses how ‘people will try to give the masses an intellectual food prepared and adapted in the way they think proper for the actual condition of the masses,’ however he thinks this and other techniques of religious and political conditioning as completely dissimilar to how culture works.

e.g BBC

‘Social Idea’

Sweetness and Light ‘works to do away with classes, to make the best that has been thought and known in the world current everywhere.’ This is seen as a social idea to engage everyone in knowledge and to humanise it by making it easily accessible and not just reserved for the highly educated and therefore ‘of sweetness and light’.

Barbarians, Philistines, Populace

Barbarians, Philistines and Populace are the idea of Arnolds contemporary society as compromising of groups.

High Class-Barbarians, seen as lacking courage for resistance, believe in personal individualism, liberty and doing as they like. Exercise strength and money. Their manners, accomplishments and powers are inherited from the Barbarians.

Middle Class-Philistines, known for wisdom and expertise in industry and commerce, they are the creaters/builders within society.

Low Class (Working Class)- Populace, this class is most effected by poverty and disease and exploited by the barbarians and philistines.

Culture and Anarchy

Arnold was concerned about the threat of anachary in particular the threat of revolution from the past, he looked at the idea of making culture available to all helps prevent this.

-Solution was to offer and make culture more accessible to all to prevent anarchy and create ‘Sweetness and Light’ to work away with classes and rulings to humanise culture.

FR Leavis

Canon

Leavis perspective on culture introduced the idea of the ‘canon’, is an elitist view on culture. Within which minorities are the lower class, culture is reserved only for the higher classes; the rich and educated. The Canon is a list created by Leavis which (in his opinion) is a selection of the best works of literature that people should read in order to be cultured. Ruling Class, Government etc decide what is canorial as these people have the most power and are the most influential in society.

Americanisation

Leavis discusses Americanisation as the ultimate standardization of culture as a result of advances in industry and in the production of culture in America through the market place. Reliance on America has helped the world in terms of technology, medical advances and cultural standardisation.

‘For those who are most defiant to America do not propose to reverse the processes consequent upon the machine.’

e.g Hollywood films according to Leavis have become standardised to point so that audiences are passive, they act as diversion and make active recreation more difficult ( dumbing down)

Culture is at a crisis, ‘the lines have blurred, the boundaries are gone and the arts and literatures of different countries or periods have flowed together’

Globalisation

Leavis states that the future of culture with globalisation playing a key factor in the ‘triumph of the machine’ as a standardised civilisation is rapidly enveloping the world.

My Culture

It’s hard to define one meaning of culture, particularly my own personal culture. I have never really defined myself within a specific subculture, not to say that many haven’t influenced me. If I had to choose one media text that I feel expresses and belongs to ‘my culture’ no doubt It would involve Music. I feel personally this is a major part of my life, I listen to my favourite artists daily, follow music news regularly and attend gigs almost weekly.

One band in particular that I like and would say have defined myself to explore a certain culture more are pop-punk band Blink 182. The band’s music in particular appeals to me because I can relate to a lot of it; the common themes within their tracks are friendship, having a good time and are just generally upbeat mostly. Lyrics such as ‘And it's happened once again I'll turn to a friend, Someone that understands, Sees through the master plan’ and ‘My friends say I should act my age, What’s my Age Again?’ again emphasise the theme of friends within their music and my friends are a major importance within my life I like these lyrics in particular.

I’d say Blink 182 were part of my own personal identity as from listening to their material I have discovered other bands who have influenced by them and the genre of Pop-Punk which the band almost helped to develop into the mainstream. I’d also say they sum up basically myself in terms of how I like to define my personal identity such as places I like to go, music I listen to etc.

The particular characteristics the text has like previously mentioned are the themes of friends, not just in the music but the three members themselves and the story behind the reunion. They have the punk element to there music and the sense of rebellion and youth, for example Blink 182 originally started in 1992 and are as old as myself yet the band still continue to tour there early material and the majority of there tracks are timeless in that they are still played within the media today and are as popular as ever.