Lesson 2: Pop Culture & Social Media in the PH

    Cards (19)

    • Pop Culture is the universal language. It connects people with different backgrounds which creates a common ground that shapes our views, beliefs, and attitudes.
    • Pop Culture in the Philippines was created and used by the Spaniards to the native Filipinos or Indios through plays and literature to get the heart of the natives.
    • To be able to trace the colonial origins of pop culture in the Philippines, look into the salient developments in Philippine literature.
    • Forms of Popular Theater and Literature
      • Pasyon - Narrative of the life and death of Christ
      • Senakulo - Dramatization of the life and death of Christ
      • Korido - Metrical tale written in octosyllabic quatrains
    • History: Spanish Period
      Ensured the acceptance and spread of Christianity. Colonial authorities create pop culture to promote interests of the Church and the state.
    • Ladinos are native intelligentsia. Knew the effects of pop culture and used it against the Spaniards through Propaganda movement using the same form to undermine abusive friars.
    • History: American Period
      American colonialism brought liberal policy
      • Printing press, radio, television, and film
      • Increased circulation of popular form
    • History: American Period
      Hollywood film near-monopoly in the Philippine market in the absence of Europe due to World War I
    • Ladinos or the local intelligentsia noticed that popular culture is a commodity intended for the mass market is seen as a threat to serious artistic work. The artists accomodated to the demands of the publishers and editors who are more interested in sales than aesthetics. (Lumbera)
    • Popular Culture is not created by populace, but culture created from by the ruling elite or members of intelligentsia employed by the elite for the consumption of populace.
    • Package entertainment or art intended for the profit of rulers (colonial administrators, native, or businessmen)
    • Netizens are net citizens (Michael Hauben, 1996)
    • Theory Netizens and Democratization of Media
      With the use of internet, geographical separation is replaced by the existence of the same virtual space (Michael Hauben, 1996)
    • Internet can be the "source of opinion" and netizens can train themselves to discern real from fabricated information (Hauben)
    • Hauben's prophecy is reflected in Graeme Turner's book 'The Demotic Turn' but in a extreme way that even news reports were bent to suit the infotainment, genre favored by the general public, such as sensationalizing small news items and making a big deal out of such.
    • What does pop culture shape?
      Views, beliefs, and attidudes
    • Where do you trace the colonial origins of pop culture in the Philippines?

      Salient developments in Philippine literature
    • Pop Culture is created from who
      Ruling elite and members of intelligentsia employed by elites
    • Example of an infotainment
      Sensationalizing small news items and making a big deal out of such