Compare and Contrast
Compare and Contrast
For a better part of 19th century, various expressive art forms such as orchestral music, Shakespearean drama, sculptures, paintings, and opera enjoyed mass popularity and high-cultural status. However, in America, people shared a culture that was less organized (hierarchically), and less divided into rigid adjectival categories. With time, American arts became increasingly renowned for a growing chasm of “high” and ‘low” culture. Specifically, highbrow culture appeals to the affluent sections of the society who have enough disposable incomes to spend on services and goods that are more expensive and of higher quality. It requires a culture of appreciation as well as an understanding of sophistication. On the other hand, lowbrow culture is associated with aspects that lack quality and appeal to lower class members of the society. The lowbrow things are superficial in nature and do not require a culture to understand or pervious knowledge for one to derive entertainment from them.
However, in some cases, high-brow cultures do not comprise positive aspects while lowbrow cultures do not necessarily hold negative connotations. In many instances, it is not the content of the service or good itself that determines whether it is lowbrow or highbrow but how it is presented. For example, comic books may be considered to be part of the low brow culture; however, some comic books fit in the highbrow culture category.
Pop Culture as Entertainment vs. Pop Culture as Art
Pop culture encompasses a collection of attitudes, ideas, thoughts, images, and perspectives that the mainstream population prefers and adores. In regards to entertainment, pop culture is widely associated with activities such as listening to music, watching TV, attending movie shows and attending concerts. Pop culture as entertainment is concerned with how entertainment, news, and media sources dominate the transfer of information from the producers to consumers. The types and forms of entertainment that the society seeks and enjoys play an important role in reaffirming its ideas, cultural beliefs, and notions about its values. Industries such as films, television, music, and news media have an influence on culture and they shape the society. In contemporary societies, the entertainment aspect of pop culture is dominated by music, TV, and movies.
Popular culture as art encompasses a visual art movement of the 1950s and 1960s that included various styles of sculptures and paintings. Through the creation of sculptures or paintings of mass culture objects and media personalities, the pop art movement helped in blurring the borders between “low” culture and “high” culture. Additionally, the imagery of popular culture inspired the emergence of pop artists and pop art. Popular culture as art uses various aspects of mass culture that includes comic books and advertising.
Frankfurt School Scholars (Adorno, Horkheimer, Benjamin) vs. The Birmingham Centre Scholars (Williams, Stuart Hall)
Frankfurt school scholars subscribe to the Frankfurt school of thought. Most of the Frankfurt school scholars had a learning experience at the Institute of Social Research. They included American-German scholars and theorists who played a critical role in developing critical analyses of the changes that occurred in Western capitalist societies since Karl Marx’s classical theory. Some of the prominent Frankfurt school scholars include T.W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Benjamin. Most of them shared and believed in Marx’s historical materialism theory, but they also strived to fix Marxists theory by broadening its scope and creating a “Critical Theory” that attempted to explain some of the benefits and limitations of historical materialism.
The Birmingham Centre scholars, such as Stuart Hall and Williams, helped in endearing popular culture as a field of academic inquiry. They also attempted to understand the encounter between Marxism and cultural studies. The Birmingham Centre that was founded in 1964 and it focuses on cultural studies that combine social theory, political economy, sociology, communication, media theory, literary theory cultural anthropology, media theory, philosophy, art history, film studies and museum studies. Williams and Stuart Hall are examples of Birmingham Centre scholars who used the Marxist analysis methods to explore the relationship between political economy and cultural base. To understand the changing political dynamics of class, culture, and politics in the U.K., Birmingham Centre scholars turned to Antonio Gramci’s work that appreciated the role of culture in social and political control.
Pop Culture as an Escape from Everyday Life vs. Pop Culture as an Intensification of Everyday Life
The popular culture as an intensification of every life serves as a reflection of popular cultural material that individuals interact with on a day-to-day basis as well as the way they influence people’s everyday lives. In contemporary settings, the cultural materials are circulated with increasing range and intensity. People increasingly interact with various forms of media such as television, music, and movies. Furthermore, hours that people spend with media such as TV, music, movies, video games, and comic books is also on the rise. The pop culture reproduces the relationships that exist between subordinate and dominant groups in the society with regards to sexuality, class, gender and race.
Popular culture as an escape from everyday life concerns itself with the way some people turn to pop culture materials to recreate certain realities of everyday by immersing themselves into the virtual world. For example, people can use pop culture to escape the emotional stress and to forget their sense of self. The U.S. and other advanced nations are known for their popular culture. In such societies, people can easily access films, video games, multi-channel televisions, magazines, music, the internet, and other forms of amusements or entertainments. Individuals can be absorbed in the things portrayed by these forms of pop culture and develop a feeling of relief from both uncertainties and realities of everyday life.
