Stuart Hall´S Theory of Culture Applied on the Example of the Betting Culture in the Uk

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Stuart Hall´s Theory of Culture Applied on the Example of the Betting Culture in the UK All over the world Britain is famous for its betting culture. Great events like a royal wedding or the birth of a new heir apparent make the cash tills of the bookmakers ring. Only a few weeks ago an enormous amount of bets was placed on the unborn of William and Kate. People betted on the baby´s hair color, the weight or its name. Also betting as an integral part of the British culture is described as follows on trytobet.net: The passion of the Englishmen for betting is notorious. If years ago the bookmakers in the USA only accepted bets for professional and college sports, the range of bets in the Great Britain is practically unlimited, bets are accepted for golf, football, tennis and especially horse racing. The stakes for different unexpected events, for example whether it will snow by Christmas or if there is life on Mars are very popular. Bets are also accepted on winners of election or the winners in one or another TV show. Anyway, usually horse-racing bets are the ones with most of the stakes during the year. Betting on horses became popular among rich and poor. Although the exertion of betting differs in different classes it still brings together the English society and it is part of its culture. Stuart Hall defined culture as “the actual grounded terrain of practices, representations, languages and customs of any specific society.” By this he also means “the contradictory forms of common sense which have taken root in and helped to shape popular life.” (Hall 1996c: 439). Therefore, this paper is going to connect Stuart Hall´s concepts of culture, like meaning, representation and media representation to the change of prestige in the horse-race-betting culture in the UK. Looking on the English society and culture “it was once commonplace to portray Britain as a

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