Lesson 1.

2: Popular Culture/Philippine Popular

Culture Definition

Lesson Summary
Popular culture is a term that is commonly used globally especially in the entertainment
industry. This is the same in the Philippines. However, many still doubt if there is popular culture
in the country especially since the country is divided into different islands; regional diversity is
displayed. In this lesson, you will find out if such notion is true.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
1. Understand how the world defines popular culture;
2. Identify the mechanics of how something belongs to popular culture;
3. Have a polarized understanding of Philippine popular culture;
4. Understand the elements of pop culture;
5. Give examples of pop culture;
6. Differentiate folk culture and high culture; and
7. Know the formation and source of pop culture.

Motivation Question
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “pop culture”? Write the key word or idea
inside the graphic organizer below.
 Pop Culture

Figure 3. Philippine Pop Culture Definition.

(Image by Author)

Discussion
You are now expected to be in friendly terms with the course and with the learning guide.
At this point, you have to read a short article, entitled: Pop Culture: An Overview by Tim Delaney
(2007). The article contains all the necessary information about this lesson. The terms that you
need to know are also in the article. Each one has a definition. Please take note of them so that
you will not have a hard time with the succeeding lessons.
 Figure 4. Pop Culture. (Image by Author)

Pop Culture: An Overview

The term ‘popular culture’ holds different meanings depending on who’s defining it and the
context of use. It is generally recognized as the vernacular or people’s culture that predominates
in a society at a point in time. As Brummett explains in Rhetorical Dimensions of Popular Culture,
pop culture involves the aspects of social life most actively involved in by the public. As the
‘culture of the people’, popular culture is determined by the interactions between people in their
everyday activities: styles of dress, the use of slang, greeting rituals and the foods that people eat
are all examples of popular culture. Popular culture is also informed by the mass media.

There are a number of generally agreed elements comprising popular culture. For example,
popular culture encompasses the most immediate and contemporary aspects of our lives. These
aspects are often subject to rapid change, especially in a highly technological world in which
people are brought closer and closer by omnipresent media. Certain standards and commonly
held beliefs are reflected in pop culture. Because of its commonality, pop culture both reflects
and influences people’s everyday life (see eg Petracca and Sorapure, Common Culture).
Furthermore, brands can attain pop iconic status (eg the Nike swoosh or McDonald’s golden
arches). However, iconic brands, as other aspects of popular culture, may rise and fall.

With these fundamental aspects in mind, popular culture may be defined as the products and
forms of expression and identity that are frequently encountered or widely accepted, commonly
liked or approved, and characteristic of a particular society at a given time. Ray Browne in his essay
‘Folklore to Populore’ offers a similar definition: “Popular culture consists of the aspects of
attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, customs, and tastes that define the people of any society. Popular
culture is, in the historic use of term, the culture of the people.”

Popular culture allows large heterogeneous masses of people to identify collectively. It serves an
inclusionary role in society as it unites the masses on ideals of acceptable forms of behavior.
Along with forging a sense of identity which binds individuals to the greater society, consuming
pop culture items often enhances an individual’s prestige in their peer group. Further, popular
culture, unlike folk or high culture, provides individuals with a chance to change the prevailing
sentiments and norms of behavior, as we shall see. So popular culture appeals to people because
it provides opportunities for both individual happiness and communal bonding.

Examples of Popular Culture

Examples of popular culture come from a wide array of genres, including popular music, print,
cyber culture, sports, entertainment, leisure, fads, advertising and television. Sports and television
are arguably two of the most widely consumed examples of popular culture, and they also
represent two examples of popular culture with great staying power.

Sports are played and watched by members of all social classes, but (tautologously) the masses
are responsible for the huge popularity of sports. Some sporting events, such as the World Cup
and the Olympics, are consumed by a world community. Sports are pervasive in most societies
and represent a major part of many people’s lives. Showing allegiance to a team as a means of
self-identification is a common behavior. Further, cheering for a sports team or a favorite athlete
is a way any individual can become part of popular culture, as I and Tim Madigan explain in our
new book The Sociology of Sport.

Many people watch numerous hours of television every day. It is such a prevalent aspect of
contemporary culture it is difficult to imagine life without it. There are those who believe TV is
responsible for the dumbing down of society; that children watch too much television; and that
the couch potato syndrome has contributed to the epidemic of childhood obesity. The globally
popular TV show The Simpsons provides us with an interesting perspective on television. In the
episode ‘Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming’ (#137), while doing time in prison, Sideshow Bob
becomes a critic of television. Although he was once a regular on The Krusty the Clown Show, Bob
has become obsessed by television’s harmful effect on society. Bob argues that everyone’s lives
would be much richer if TV were done away with. As a result, he devises a scheme to detonate a
nuclear bomb unless all television is abolished in Springfield. Unable to locate Bob, Springfield’s
city officials meet to discuss Bob’s demands of abolishing TV. A panicky Krusty proclaims,
“Would it really be worth living in a world without television? I think the survivors would envy the
dead.” Although there are people who agree with Sideshow Bob, the masses would more likely
agree with Krusty: that living in a world without television is not really living. It is even more
difficult to imagine a world without popular culture.
Folk and High Culture

Popular culture is usually distinguished from folk and high culture. In some ways, folk culture is
similar to pop culture because of the mass participation involved. Folk culture, however,
represents the traditional way of doing things. Consequently, it is not as amendable to change
and is much more static than popular culture.

Folk culture represents a simpler lifestyle, that is generally conservative, largely self-sufficient,
and often characteristic of rural life. Radical innovation is generally discouraged. Group members
are expected to conform to traditional modes of behavior adopted by the community. Folk culture
is local in orientation, and non-commercial. In short, folk culture promises stability, whereas
popular culture is generally looking for something new or fresh. Because of this, popular culture
often represents an intrusion and a challenge to folk culture. Conversely, folk culture rarely
intrudes upon popular culture. There are times when certain elements of folk culture (eg Turkish
rugs, Mexican blankets and Irish fairy tales) find their way into the world of pop culture. Generally,
when items of folk culture are appropriated and marketed by the popular culture, the folk items
gradually lose their original form.

A key characteristic of popular culture is its accessibility to the masses. It is, after all, the culture
of the people. High culture, on the other hand, is not mass produced, nor meant for mass
consumption. It belongs to the social elite; the fine arts, opera, theatre, and high intellectualism
are associated with the upper socioeconomic classes. Items of high culture often require
extensive experience, training, or reflection to be appreciated. Such items seldom cross over to
the pop culture domain. Consequently, popular culture is generally looked (down) upon as being
superficial when compared to the sophistication of high culture. (This does not mean that social
elites do not participate in popular culture or that members of the masses do not participate in
high culture.)

The Formation of Popular Culture

Through most of human history, the masses were influenced by dogmatic forms of rule and
traditions dictated by local folk culture. Most people were spread throughout small cities and rural
areas – conditions that were not conducive to a ‘popular’ culture. With the beginning of the
Industrial era (late eighteenth century), the rural masses began to migrate to cities, leading to the
urbanization of most Western societies.

Urbanization is a key ingredient in the formation of popular culture. People who once lived in
homogeneous small villages or farms found themselves in crowded cities marked by great
cultural diversity. These diverse people would come to see themselves as a ‘collectivity’ as a
result of common, or popular, forms of expression. Thus, many scholars trace the beginning of
the popular culture phenomenon to the rise of the middle class brought on by the Industrial
Revolution.

Industrialization also brought with it mass production; developments in transportation, such as

the steam locomotive and the steamship; advancements in building technology; increased
literacy; improvements in education and public health; and the emergence of efficient forms of
commercial printing, representing the first step in the formation of a mass media (eg the penny
press, magazines, and pamphlets). All of these factors contributed to the blossoming of popular
culture. By the start of the twentieth century, the print industry mass-produced illustrated
newspapers and periodicals, as well as serialized novels and detective stories. Newspapers
served as the best source of information for a public with a growing interest in social and
economic affairs. The ideas expressed in print provided a starting point for popular discourse on
all sorts of topics. Fueled by further technological growth, popular culture was greatly impacted
by the emerging forms of mass media throughout the twentieth century. Films, broadcast radio
and television all had a profound influence on culture.

So, urbanization, industrialization, the mass media and the continuous growth in technology since
the late 1700s, have all been significant factors in the formation of popular culture. These
continue to be factors shaping pop culture today.

Sources of Popular Culture

There are numerous sources of popular culture. As implied above, a primary source is the mass
media, especially popular music, film, television, radio, video games, books and the internet. In
addition, advances in communication allows for the greater transmission of ideas by word of
mouth, especially via cell phones. Many TV programs, such as American Idol and the Last Comic
Standing, provide viewers with a phone number so that they can vote for a contestant. This
combining of pop culture sources represents a novel way of increasing public interest, and further
fuels the mass production of commodities.

Popular culture is also influenced by professional entities that provide the public with information.
These sources include the news media, scientific and scholarly publications, and ‘expert’ opinion
from people considered an authority in their field. For example, a news station reporting on a
specific topic, say the effects of playing violent video games, will seek a noted psychologist or
sociologist who has published in this area. This strategy is a useful way of influencing the public
and may shape their collective opinions on a particular subject. At the very least, it provides a
starting point for public discourse and differing opinions. News stations often allow viewers to
call or email in their opinions, which may be shared with the public.

A seemingly contradictory source of popular culture is individualism. Urban culture has not only
provided a common ground for the masses, it has inspired ideals of individualistic aspirations. In
the United States, a society formed on the premise of individual rights, there are theoretically no
limitations to what an individual might accomplish. An individual may choose to participate in all
that is ‘popular’ for popularity’s sake; or they may choose a course of action off the beaten track.
At times, these ‘pathfinders’ affect popular culture by their individuality. Of course, once a unique
style becomes adopted by others, it ceases to remain unique. It becomes, popular.

Source: Delaney, T. (2008). Pop Culture: An Overview. Retrieved from

https://tinyurl.com/y4dzsx8a.

The salient points in the article are summarized below and added with examples for you.
1. The different definitions of popular culture based on the article are the following (Delaney,
2008):
“It is generally recognized as the vernacular or people’s culture that predominates in a
society at a point in time.”
“As the “culture of the people”, popular culture is determined by the interactions between
people in their everyday activities: styles of dress, the use of slang, greeting rituals, and the foods
that people eat are all examples of popular culture.”
“Pop culture is the products and forms of expression and identity that are frequently
encountered or widely accepted, commonly liked or approved, and characteristic of a particular
society at a given time. “Popular culture consists of the aspects of attitudes, behaviors, beliefs,
customs, and tastes that define the people of any society.”
“Popular culture is, in the historic use of term, the culture of the people.”
From all the definitions, popular culture involves people’s common interests, habits,
lifestyles, and ideas. People are the center of popular culture. Without them and their desire for
the same things, no popular phenomenon shall ever exist.
2. The elements of pop culture, according to Delaney (2008), involve the present lifestyle of
people, erratic changes to the lifestyle of people, the standard of living and beliefs of people
influence their everyday life, people are interested in the same beliefs, art, and practices, and
people of the different state share the same sentiments on things (e.g. art, beliefs, practices).
These elements need not be present to identify if a phenomenon belongs to popular
culture.
3. There are many examples of popular culture in the article Delaney (2008) wrote. They are from
different industries. The most common and traditional ones are entertainment the industry,
television, music, print, leisure, fad, and sports. Other examples are from online culture, social
media, and many more. Groups of people unconsciously decide the popularity of these examples.
Sports and television are the most consumed ones. In Japan, its most popular sport is soccer. In
the Philippines it is basketball. Because of the difference of preference, sports items that are
salable are different in the said countries. In Philippine television, there is a trend. In the 1990s
until the early 2000s, teleseryes from Spain and Mexico were famous. An example is the teleserye
Marimar. In the late 2000s, it was anime. At present, Kdrama tops Netflix.
An example of a popular kind of music is pop songs with rap. It was famous in the 90s.
An example of print is the popularity of comic books before the internet took hold of the world.
An example of online culture is the popularity of Wattpadd in the early 2000s. This has changed
in recent times. Wattpadd is still available, but its popularity is slowly dwindling. An example of
leisure is the popularity of massage nowadays. An example of a fad is Pokemon Go. A fad is a
practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal. Therefore, Pokemon Go is a
concrete example of it. When it was released, people were crazy over it. Some even got injured
from playing the game. It was the game for almost everyone in varied age group. However, it died
down as quickly as it ascended. Finally, an example of popular advertising is the style used by
Thai entertainment industry in their advertising.
4. As I mentioned, the reason why a phenomenon is part of pop culture is the collective and
unconscious agreement of people to be interested into that phenomenon. In this context, folk
culture and high culture are mixed in. They are equally important to be understood.
Folk culture has a similar quality with pop culture. They are both for the masses. However, folk
culture is more stable than pop culture. It is traditional while pop culture is not. Change is not
encouraged in folk culture. An example of it is life in the rural: laid back and simple.
High culture is something that the elite can mostly understand and be interested in. It is for a few
people only. For example, only rich people tend to like and acquire expensive paintings.

5. Urbanization and industrialization are key concepts in the formation of pop culture. Because of
urbanization, it was possible for groups of people to gather and socialize. This became the reason
why unconscious interest in the same things formed and created pop culture. Industrialization
even more emphasized this event. It was easier for people to socialize and get similar produce
especially since transportation, literacy, and other things made possible the steps (ex. Mass
media) in creating collective culture.

6. The main source of popular culture is mass media simply because it has the ability to distribute
information.

These are the basic things that you need to know about pop culture. Research more readings
about the topic and compare your haul to this lesson.

Learning Tasks/Activities
Instructions: Create a Venn diagram about urbanization and industrialization. Write at least 3
descriptions of the urbanization part and industrialization part. Write at least 3 similarities of both
parts. Follow the format below.
Name: (Surname, Given name)
Schedule: ______________________
Course: ______________________
Urbanization Industrialization

Similarities