Popular Culture Essay

585 Words3 Pages
WHAT IS CULTURE? To many people, the word culture refers to a particular way of life of a group of people or a tribe. However, Raymond Williams, a Welsh academic, novelist and critic says culture is a very broad word and can be explained by three definitions. * Culture is a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetics development * Culture might suggest a particular way of life whether people, a period or a group. Some examples that support this definition are the Thanksgiving ceremony, the Passover celebrated by the Jews and many more. * Culture can refer to “the works”, those texts and practices that of intellectual and especially artistic activity. These works and texts include music, comics or Shakespeare’s plays. Matthew Arnold, a British poet and cultural critic also defines culture as pursuit of total perfection by means of getting to know the best which has been known and taught in the world. Before defining what popular culture is, the concept of Ideology which is a very important concept in the study of popular culture must first be explained according to John Storey’s book “Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, An Introduction”. Just like culture itself, Ideology also has many meanings and is difficult to explain. This is because Ideology can be used interchangeable with culture and is a very important concept in the study of popular culture. Two definitions of Ideology have a link to popular culture are going to be used in this research paper. The first definition can refer to a body of ideas that have been well and clearly expressed by a particular group of people. The second definition of Ideology suggests that cultural texts and practices are distorted images of reality and produce what is called “false consciousness”. These distortions work in the favour of the upper class and exploit the powerless. This definition of
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