Lesson 1: Introduction to PPC

• Popular Culture involves the aspect of social life most actively involved in by public (Brummet)
• Popular Culture is the vernacular of people's culture that predominates in a society at a point in time. Influences and mirrors people's everyday engagement in life.
• Popular Culture is determined by the interactions between people in their activities:

  • Style of dressing
  • Use of slang
  • Greeting rituals
  • The foods people eat
• Popular culture is a mass culture. It is a hopelessly commercialized culture. Mass produced for mass consumption.
• Popular Culture consists of the aspects of attitude, behavior, beliefs, customs, and tastes that define the people of any society.
• Symbol is an element of culture that is represented by something else and often revokes various reactions and emotions.
• Language is an element of culture that is a key symbol of any culture.
• Norms are an element of culture that are the standards and expectations for behaving.
• Formal Norms are mores or laws that are the standards of behavior considered the most important in any society. Examples of formal norms are traffic laws, school rules, and community ordinances.
• Informal Norms are folkway of customs that are the standards of behavior that are less important but still influences how we behave. Example of informal norms are table manners, phone etiquette, public ride manners, public conversation, and part etiquette.
• Rituals are an element of a culture that are an established procedures and ceremonies that often mark transitions in the life course. Examples of rituals are circumcision of boys, wedding rituals, house warming, wearing of black or white during a funeral.
• Examples of Popular Culture

  Music, print, cyber culture, sports, entertainment, leisure, advertising, and television
• Formation of Popular Culture is from urbanization and industrialization
• Urbanization is the key ingredient in pop culture formation. Diverse people would come to see themselves as a 'collectively' as a result of common, or popular, forms of expression.
• Industrialization is brought with mass production

  • Developments in transportation and technology
  • Increased literacy
  • Emergence of efficient forms of commercial printing
• In the 20th century...

  • Print Industry mass produced illustrated newspapers and periodicals
  • Serializes novels and detective stories
  • Films, broadcast radio, and television all had profound influence on culture
• Popular Culture involves what aspect of social life?

  Most actively involved in public
• What can popular culture influence and mirror?

  Everyday engagement of people in life
• When does rituals normally happen?

  Transitions in a life course
• When does rituals normally happen?

  Transitions in a life course