SOME BASIC CONCEPTS FOR THE STUDY OF POPULAR CULTURE
Popular myths: stories that attempt to explain a basic truth
Stereotypes: generalized ideas about a social, racial, ethnic or sexual group
Icons: images invested with emotional meaning--highly charged symbols
Heroes: representatives of cultural ideals. In general, most popular heroes are - exceptionally gifted,
- embody virtues that the culture values
- contribute to the maintenance or the
defense of the culture and its central values
Celebrities: are individuals who are famous for being famous. They gain status or notoriety through appearing in the mass media but may rapidly fade from view.
Popular formulas: conventional systems for structuring cultural products such as romance novels, situation comedies, westerns
Rituals: communal celebrations of highly valued ideals or myths
Archetype: a primordial image which taps the collective unconscious memory of the human race. These images are expressed in myths, dreams, fantasies, and art. Some typical archetypes:
- the fool,
- the wise man,
- the hero,
- the earth mother,
- the sacrificial lamb,
- the temptress,
- the evil one.
Genre: from the French meaning kind or type and referring to the distinct types or forms into which literary works are grouped. The traditional genres include tragedy, comedy, epic, lyric
and pastoral. In popular culture, the genres include distinctive television programs, such as cops and robbers, westerns, soap operas, situation comedies, etc.
Reasons for the development of popular culture:
- increase in population in urban areas created a market for entertainment
- the rise of a middle class in a democratic society created a new audience for the artist
dependent on the median taste of the population at large
- development of modern technology of rapid duplication and distribution
The criterion of success for the popular artist became the size of the public and its response.