comm 340 final

avatar
Created by
chelsea hull

Cards (87)

  • Popular Culture Definition

    Activities, objects, distractions, and focus of everyday life per Brandt & Clare
  • Dismissal of Popular Culture

    *Not popular field of study until today
    *Took a while to get a firm hold in academia, credit to Ray Brown
    *Elitist views from other academics believed that pop culture was useless and worthless
    -They believed that elite culture was the only thing worth teaching
  • Elite vs. Folk Culture

    Elite culture
    -more inaccessible, folk culture tied to working class
    -Were are not typically exposed to elite culture on a regular basis
    -We don't get exposed to "elite" books until school and only through school
    Folk Culture
    -Less economically advantaged
    -Working class people
    -Folk culture often becomes pop culture
  • Shift to Popular Culture in 1800s America

    -Industrialization caused the spread of folk culture
    -Most people had more leisure time and disposable income due to the Industrial Revolution
  • Myth Definition

    Shared belief systems defining mindset, identity, and way of life
  • Perpetuation of Myths through Structuralism & Semiotics

    Structuralism
    -Large institutions
    -"Assemble and shape meaning through social interactions/cultural practices" (pg. 30)
    *Structures include:
    -Schools, religious institutions, governments, media
    -Structures maintain the status quo
    Semiotics
    -The study of sign systems and their significance
    -Language is a series of signs
    -Signs: words, images objects, acts— both denotative and connotative meanings (Barthes)
    -Signifier: the form of the sign
    -Signified/Referent: the concept the signifier represents

    Ex) American Dream
    -In education, we are taught the process of life, teachers often remark that we will end up going to college even if that's not true in the future
    -In media directed to people around our age, it is portrayed of how our life should go
    -College, then job, then family
  • Structures of Society

    *Large institutions in society that reinforce the status quo and instill interactions and ways of behavior
    *They give us the idea that what we learn in those structures and providing knowledge to give us a better life
    Examples
    -Churches
    -Government
    -University
    -Home/Family
  • First-order Signification
    - a signifier of the second-order
    - The denotative or actual object
    - Rose- first order (denotative) is a flower
  • Second-order Signification

    -The connotative meaning we give to things
    - The meaning behind a rose - second order (connotative)
    - Red - love
    - Yellow - Friendship
    - Black - Death
  • Campbell's Monomyth Stages

    Hero's journey: Separation, Initiation, Return
  • Hero's Journey: Separation
    Separate from whatever your homeland is usually because of an older mentor/ wisdom giver
  • Popular Culture Definition

    Activities, objects, distractions, and focus of everyday life per Brandt & Clare
  • Dismissal of Popular Culture

    *Not popular field of study until today
    *Took a while to get a firm hold in academia, credit to Ray Brown
    *Elitist views from other academics believed that pop culture was useless and worthless
    -They believed that elite culture was the only thing worth teaching
  • Elite vs. Folk Culture

    Elite culture
    -more inaccessible, folk culture tied to working class
    -Were are not typically exposed to elite culture on a regular basis
    -We don't get exposed to "elite" books until school and only through school
    Folk Culture
    -Less economically advantaged
    -Working class people
    -Folk culture often becomes pop culture
  • Shift to Popular Culture in 1800s America

    -Industrialization caused the spread of folk culture
    -Most people had more leisure time and disposable income due to the Industrial Revolution
  • Myth Definition

    Shared belief systems defining mindset, identity, and way of life
  • Perpetuation of Myths through Structuralism & Semiotics

    Structuralism
    -Large institutions
    -"Assemble and shape meaning through social interactions/cultural practices" (pg. 30)
    *Structures include:
    -Schools, religious institutions, governments, media
    -Structures maintain the status quo
    Semiotics
    -The study of sign systems and their significance
    -Language is a series of signs
    -Signs: words, images objects, acts— both denotative and connotative meanings (Barthes)
    -Signifier: the form of the sign
    -Signified/Referent: the concept the signifier represents

    Ex) American Dream
    -In education, we are taught the process of life, teachers often remark that we will end up going to college even if that's not true in the future
    -In media directed to people around our age, it is portrayed of how our life should go
    -College, then job, then family
  • Structures of Society

    *Large institutions in society that reinforce the status quo and instill interactions and ways of behavior
    *They give us the idea that what we learn in those structures and providing knowledge to give us a better life
    Examples
    -Churches
    -Government
    -University
    -Home/Family
  • First-order Signification

    - a signifier of the second-order
    - The denotative or actual object
    - Rose- first order (denotative) is a flower
  • Second-order Signification

    -The connotative meaning we give to things
    - The meaning behind a rose - second order (connotative)
    - Red - love
    - Yellow - Friendship
    - Black - Death
  • Campbell's Monomyth Stages

    Hero's journey: Separation, Initiation, Return
  • Hero's Journey: Separation

    Separate from whatever your homeland is usually because of an older mentor/ wisdom giver
  • Hero's Journey: Initiation

    Starts mastering the skills the mentor explains
    - Foster relationships and gains allies through tests
  • Hero's Journey: Return

    - After mastering the wisdom, an epic fight begins between the hero and antagonist
    - Hero wins and returns home (must return home) with new status and knowledge
  • Difference: Hero vs. Celebrity
    Heroes:
    - get famous for achievements, actions, and deeds
    Celebrities:
    - famous due to being exposed and overexposed in the media of the time
  • Other Steps
    - Call to action
    - Refusal of call
    - Crossing the threshold
    - Master of two worlds
    - Supreme ordeal
  • Anti-Hero

    - They are not good people but they are very relatable and more interesting than the average heroes who always save the day
    - They work outside the confines of the law or morality
    - We as an audience sometimes get bored of the hero always saving the day
  • Audience Types

    Diverse audience categories based on perception of celebrities
  • Audience Types: Traditional

    - Celebrity narratives occurring "naturally"; oblivious to the PR machine behind celebrities
    - People who view the celebrity as a "real person" and not a media creation
    - They either ignore or aren't aware of the possibility of PR and effects of the industry
    - Second-order traditional might be "aware" of the PR but still believe in the "real" person (Nas)
    - Lots of parasocial relationships
  • Audience Types: Post-Modern

    - "Highly aware of the production of celebrity (pg. 118)
    - Their interest lies in the "behind the scenes" element of celebrity
    - These people are more interested in Hollywood as an industry
    - How Hollywood makes and breaks celebrity
    - The idea that it is less the fault of a celebrity for losing fame and more the whims of what Hollywood wants
    - Might not have alot of "para-social" relationships since they are aware that what they listen and see might be an onscreen persona that they know might not be real
  • Audience Types: Game Players

    - "Medium to high" level of understanding of celebrity/PR
    - Might be the development of a para-social relationship since their trying to find the behind the persona, what the celebrity is truly like
    - Gossipers - Popular Culture serves as a forum for "circulating, examining, and assessing social norms..." (pg. 118)
    - Establishment as cultural identity
    - Detective - "celebrity... as compensation for the loss of community" (pg. 118)
    - Knowledge of certain celebrities can unite people who may feel left out of an increasingly mediated and "geographically dispersed" world
    - All about uniting as a way to make connections with people
    - Part of small to find out about a person if you have similarities and common ground
  • Mittell's Genre Theory Discourse

    - Focus less on genre as a category of movies/ shows and more on discourse
    - Discussions and how we talk about a show
    - How we talk about a show face to face vs online
    - Argues that genre is so much bigger than just the specific characteristics of a certain text (text is a book, movie, show, song, etc)
    - Says that we need to look at more elements when classifying a text and may even need to create a new genre
    - New hybrids are being created on streaming platforms because our likes and interests are becoming more niche and individual
  • Mittell's 5 Principles of Genre Analysis

    1. Genre analysis should account for the particular attributes of the medium
    2. Genre studies should negotiate between specificity and generality
    3. Genre histories should be written using discursive genealogies.
    4. Genres should be understood in cultural practice
    5. Genres should be situated within larger systems of cultural hierarchies and power relations
  • Mittell Principle 1
    1. Genre analysis should account for the particular attributes of the medium
    - The definitions we use to describe movie or literature genres won't always work on television.
  • Mittell Principle 2
    2. Genre studies should negotiate between specificity and generality
    - At some point, genres evolve
    - Sometimes because of industry specifics but because of cultural norms changing too
    - Sitcoms back then revolved around families where the head was the head of the family and the mom stayed at home
    - Then in the 70s, things changed along with the tide for women's rights where shows focused more on women and single women/mothers
    - 80s role around, and there are more focus of Sit-coms revolving around black people and families
    - The sitcoms also started talking about more controversial issues
    - Mittell says that TV reflects on the changes in society (often too late)
  • Mittell Principle 3
    3. Genre histories should be written using discursive genealogies.
    - "Breadth over depth". Scholars should examine the "discursive instances" surrounding a specific genre: definitions, interpretations, and evaluations.
    - Sit-coms for the vast majority have been relatively harmless
    - They pushed the status quo, but didn't inspire change
  • Mittell Principle 4
    4. Genres should be understood in cultural practice
    - Culture and politics power relations
    - Look at culture first
    - Why did the family unit sitcoms fall through?
    - It was a reflection on American culture and politics
    - When That 70s Show became popular, the belief of the family unit started to dissipate and divorce rates went up
  • Mittell Principle 5
    5. Genres should be situated within larger systems of cultural hierarchies and power relations
    - "...[W]e should first examine the discourses that constitute the category before examining the text..." (pg. 18)
    - Comedies are often not taken seriously and are more heavily criticized
    - Horror as well, critics don't see these genres as artistic
    - Scholars should look for power relations that constitute genres
    - Examine political implications as well
    - The government doesn't have much power over what we see but anybody who is running for president has to do the rounds and variety and comedy shows as well
    - If you are running for president, your job is to be seen
    - We like to see our politicians be more human, be more like us
    - Studies show that younger people get their news from entertainment or social apps such as TikTok or SNL
    - The dominant political ideology and climate affect what type of shows the labels and companies will show.
  • Genre
    A contract between producers and consumers with shifting expectations
    - These expectations shift according to historical, ideological, and cultural contexts (pg. 52)
    - The need for more specific genres arises with access to more media through streaming platforms due to the bigger library and options
    - Better for you because we get more media targeted to us
    - Better for the streaming platform because they keep you engaged
  • Conventions

    - recurring elements (semantics)
    - Character types and icons (props, settings) help build the genre
    - Ex: The bachelor (bachelorette) is recurring and continuously watched
    - When it transitions to multiple types of shows, it becomes a formula