Charlie Hynes

English 440-Cultural Criticism

Professor: Michelle Kells

October 1, 2012

Presentation

CULTURAL CRITICISM CHAPTER 6

·         ANTHROPOLOGISTS “see culture as the central organizing concept in their discipline.”(page 136,CC)

·         “culture refers to the pattern of beliefs and values, reflected in artifacts, objects, and institutions, that is passed on from generation to generation.”(page 136, CC)

·         SOCIOLOGISTS define “culture” with a number of variables.  Some of these variables concentrate on where you are from, your religious beliefs, economic status within your region, and your first language.

·         Being “cultured” is a term describing people we have all heard.  Being “cultured”, or “non-cultured” is an insinuation that one either does, or does not engage in their cultures offerings of “fine arts”, such as the opera, or classical music, or the ballet.

QUESTION #1.  Do you see yourself as being a cultured individual as before defined?

·         POPULAR CULTURE as we know it is all about what is happening now, and is consumed my mass group populations.  Wrap music and cartoons, media such as magazines and talk shows, sports and fashions.  In the 1970’s bell bottom pants were an expression of pop-culture.  Today “The John Stewart Show” is a media based expression of our popular culture.  His following is large, his humor is hip and sharp, and we are engaged in his rhetoric and sense of “popular culture.”

QUESTION #2.  What are some examples we can come up with of the most popular examples of “pop culture” today?”

·         ELITE CULTURE as described by postmodernists, as well as our “Cultural Criticism” text on page 138 to paraphrase refers to things like the opera or classical comedies by Shakespeare, or paintings.

QUESTION #3.  How does our text mediate the middle ground between popular culture and elite culture-what do you think tempers this shady ground?

By expanding our search and moving forward into a multicultural identity we are acknowledging the diversity of a singular larger culture.  This is apparent here in the United States where “Multiculturalism” is as abundant as the diverse ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and regionally diverse backgrounds we all stem from.  We have gay communities, exclusive clubs, political diversity, generally a large group of people who do have strong differences in their beliefs on a large scale.  It is no wonder our universities have expanded with their “Cultural-Multicultural” studies programs.  To live in the United States, and elsewhere, although, I would argue to lesser degrees than here, is to be immersed in a “multicultural” field study on a daily basis.  There are strong bias’ that are constantly being tugged at in our cultures efforts to move forward, and I believe that of itself is the definition of multiculturalism. 

·         DWEMS=DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALES

·         LWEMS=LIVIND, OR RECENTLY DECEASED WHITE EUROPEAN MALES

QUESTION #3.  What is the significance of these two groups in relationship to “Political Correctness?”

·         POLITICAL CORRECTNESS according to our “Cultural Criticism” text is a term under “contention”, and possibly being used to stereotype certain professors as Marxist, or left wing.  To paraphrase a section of the text; it seems conservatives are using the term “political correctness” in an attempt to keep collegiate curriculum s from becoming anymore multicultural in nature.  There is a discrepancy in ideological thought and the usage of the term “political correctness” is being used as ammunition from the conservative right against the liberal left.

QUESTION #4.  In the past “anomic behavior” could be tied to the gay and lesbian movement.  Today, how would we define “anomic behavior?

·         FUNCTIONALISM is the glue that holds our society together; “the institutions, entities and practices of our society.” (page 146, CC)  Sociologists use functionalism to determine whether institutions are benefiting our society or not.  It has been criticized as being a conservative practice of sociologists but, sociologists contend its practice is useful in its approach to learning the value of certain institutions. 

Question #5.  From a functionalist perspective can we evaluate how two antagonistic religious factions might come into contention with each other and cause social unrest?

·         SACRED/PROFANE Durkheim “explains how religious thought divided the world into two distinctive spheres.” (page 148, CC)

·         “Utopian movements such as Marxism are tied to the eschatological myth of the redeeming few.”(page 149, CC)

·         “Nudism and sexual freedom movements are connected to the notion of human innocence before the Fall and a nostalgia for Eden.” (page 149, CC)

·         THEORIES OF MASS MEDIA TERMS “1.  USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY.  2.  DEPENDENCY THEORY.  3.  AGENDA SETTING THEORY.  3.  CULTIVATION THEORY.  4.  GATE-KEEPING THEORY.  5.  TWO-STEP FLOW THEORY.  6.  HYPODERMIC THEORY.  7.  SPIRAL OF SILENCE THEORY.”(pages 151-152, CC)

I had no real interest in this section above so I just listed the key terms and not their definitions.  If we wish to discuss them we can go back to the book.

·         MASS SOCIETY.  The metaphor in the book sums this theory up well.  To paraphrase and pose as a question; Have you ever felt like you were just a grain of sand on an endless beach?

The influence from mass media onto mass society has become a way to get large groups of people in an otherwise alienating setting to have a commonality with their emotions and feelings in response to the mass medias entertainment value; true, or false?  If it is true, then I feel like a puppet.

Is the medium more important than the message as Mcluhan from our text argues?  How may our media intake be affecting the way we learn as we evolve as a species? 

The media loves to stereotype, by this I mean the advertisers who are trying to sell their product during our favorite t.v. shows.  Is it working?  Do they know what you want by knowing what you watch?

            As we consider this chapter in “Cultural Criticism” it is easy to see how the world just keeps growing.  It is a little off topic, but in 1970 there were just under 3 billion people on the planet.  That is the year I was born.  As we are closing in on 7 billion people on the planet isn’t it more apparent today that we keep a liberal view toward curriculum, like a growing interest in the study of multiculturalism, and allow it to grow just as our population has been.  “We” should be trying to understand each other even more as our population grows and we move closer to each other, literally, closer to each other.  There is nowhere to hide in this world anymore, no more hidden island tribes or Amazon tribes, people are integrated, for the most part in western cultures, and integrating more and more every day.