Pop Culture: Key Concepts

A shared set of practices and beliefs that have attained global acceptance and which can be normally characterised by: being associated with commercial products; developing from local to national to global acceptance; allowing consumers to have widespread access and are constantly changing and evolving.

This is a critical concept in understanding popular culture. You must be able to explain who has ______ to your chosen popular culture, and how they have ______. Without this, there can be no popular culture.

This applies to the conceptual understanding that something is different from the way it has been before. To be a popular culture, the activity must keep evolving. How has your chosen popular culture evolved? What examples can you give?

This is the way we learn what society demands of us. What role has your chosen popular culture played in your ___________? Can you recognise the role of your popular culture in the ___________ of others?

Implies disagreement at varying levels. Do all people in society accept your chosen popular culture? What examples exist of various groups within society disagreeing over your popular culture?

In this topic, ____ is basically you, and requires you to think about the way you interact with various popular cultures. This is linked closely to the concepts of persons and socialisation in popular culture.

This concept applies to the development of ideas and beliefs surrounding your chosen popular culture. They may be rooted in truth, but have developed a life beyond truth. They may be deliberately cultivated to support commercial exploitation.

This usually refers to the types of mass communication that reach large numbers of people, such as radio, television, the Internet and film. Mass ______ has been a key force in promoting the development of many popular cultures in the contemporary world.

To purchase or otherwise acquire the products of your chosen popular culture. One of the defining characteristics of a popular culture is the production of associated products. What are these products in your popular culture? Who _________ them?

This refers to power that is inherent and accepted part of the society. It can be a widely recognised institution (e.g. parliament) or an accepted group (e.g. a record company). Try to recognise __________ that possess power over your popular culture.

This applies to the conceptual understanding that elements are largely as they have always been. You must have examples of areas of your chosen popular culture that have remained the same amid the change you have identified.

In this case, this concept refers to the effect your chosen popular culture has on you, as well as the forces that impact upon your popular culture.

In terms of Popular Culture, this refers to the way that popular culture can now be basically the same in many parts of the world, and that very few companies may control the production of a popular culture throughout the world.

This is similar to self, but requires an understanding of the forces that construct a sense of the uniqueness of a person. Popular culture may play a crucial role in the development of _________. Try to recognise this role in yourself and others.

This is a coherent set of ideas that binds together a set of beliefs. What are the beliefs that bind together the followers of any popular culture? Is there a coherent _______? What examples can you find of shared values and beliefs?