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Popular culture: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Popular culture
In the 1830s, a young man in London could buy a story for a single penny that would keep him up all night, marking the birth of a new kind of storytelling that would eventually become the foundation of modern entertainment. This was the era of the penny dreadful, a cheap, mass-produced serial fiction that targeted the working class and was often dismissed by the upper classes as trash. These stories, which included tales of crime, horror, and adventure, were the Victorian equivalent of today's video games, providing an escape for a population that was increasingly literate but still poor. The first public railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, opened in north-east England in 1825, making it possible to distribute these stories on a large scale, creating a market for cheap popular literature that had never existed before. The phrase popular culture was coined in the 19th century or earlier, with the Oxford English Dictionary listing the first use as 1854, but it appears in an address by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in 1818, showing that the concept was already taking shape in the minds of educators and social reformers. The stress on the distinction from official culture became more pronounced towards the end of the 19th century, as the educational institutions of the United States began to label popular culture as a sign of poor education and lower-class status, a usage that became established by the interbellum period.
The Culture Industry's Shadow
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, two German philosophers of the Frankfurt School, delivered a scathing critique of the culture industry in their seminal work Dialectic of Enlightenment, arguing that capitalist popular culture was far from an authentic expression of the people. Instead, they claimed it constituted a system churning out homogenous, standardized products, manufactured to serve the interests of elite domination. Consumer desire for Hollywood films, pop melodies, and disposable bestsellers was not organic, but shaped by the capitalist behemoths, Hollywood studios, record labels, publishing giants, and the elite gatekeepers who dictated which commodities saturated our media, from television screens to print journalism. As Adorno noted, The industry bows to the vote it has itself rigged. This elite dictates commodification based on narrow ideological values, habituating audiences to formulaic conventions that, Adorno contended, stifle genuine intellectual engagement. His work influenced cultural studies, philosophy, and the New Left, and his critique remains relevant today, as the digital age has only magnified the power of the culture industry. The success of phenomena like the Harry Potter franchise, as critiqued by Jack Zipes, exemplifies this mass commercialization and corporate hegemony, with culture industry commodities achieving popularity precisely through their homogeneity and adherence to formula. The media, he argues, actively molds children's tastes, creating a cycle of consumption that benefits the few while obscuring the exploitation of the many.
Common questions
When was the phrase popular culture first used in the Oxford English Dictionary?
The Oxford English Dictionary lists the first use of the phrase popular culture as 1854. The concept appeared earlier in an address by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in 1818.
Who coined the term culture industry and what was their main argument?
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer coined the term culture industry in their 1947 work Dialectic of Enlightenment. They argued that capitalist popular culture produces homogenous, standardized products to serve elite domination rather than authentic expression.
What minerals are mined under appalling conditions to create devices for consuming popular culture?
Cobalt and tantalum are critical minerals frequently sourced from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These mines often use child labour and expose artisanal miners to lethal hazards while generating vast profits for multinational conglomerates.
When did the origins of popular music begin and what technology enabled public access?
The origins of popular music began in the late 1800s with the inventions of Edison's phonograph and Berliner's gramophone. These technologies allowed music to be available for purchase to the public rather than just the elites.
Which artists are known for the pop art movement that emerged in the 1950s?
Eduardo Paolozzi, Richard Hamilton, Larry Rivers, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol are the artists known during the pop art movement. This movement emerged in the 1950s as a reaction to traditional and high-class art.
The influential feminist scholar bell hooks delivered a searing intersectional critique of popular culture, arguing that commercial celebrities and their branded commodities cannot authentically symbolize liberation while being structurally dependent on and actively reinforcing imperialist capitalism and oppressive beauty standards. She dissects figures like Beyoncé not merely as artists, but as nodes within a vast profit machinery, where her global stardom increases the wealth of corporate giants like Pepsi, Adidas, and luxury brands, as well as the extractive ad-revenue engines of platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Beyoncé's ascent to billionaire status, hooks contends, exemplifies how such success is built upon and fuels the very systems of patriarchal capitalism it might superficially appear to challenge. Her power derives from, and legitimizes, the industries profiting from exploitation, creating a paradox where the most visible symbols of female empowerment are also the most profitable assets of the culture industry. This critique extends beyond individual artists to the entire structure of mass media, which facilitates control and manipulation by a powerful elite, as Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky argued in their pivotal 1988 work Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. They posit that a powerful elite, driven by its own interests, controls and manipulates mainstream information flow, making mass media operate as a sophisticated system of propaganda that serves imperialist ideologies rather than reflecting a democratic perspective.
The Digital Age's Paradox
The digital age, as music critic Alex Ross observed in New Yorker in 2014, has only magnified Adorno's relevance, creating a paradox where the same technologies that democratize access to culture also deepen its commercialization and homogenization. The success of phenomena like the Harry Potter franchise, as critiqued by Jack Zipes, exemplifies this mass commercialization and corporate hegemony, with culture industry commodities achieving popularity precisely through their homogeneity and adherence to formula. The media, he argues, actively molds children's tastes, creating a cycle of consumption that benefits the few while obscuring the exploitation of the many. Postmodern sociologist Jean Baudrillard presented a stark view of the consumer's role, arguing that individuals are relentlessly conditioned to pursue the maximization of pleasure as a social duty, with a failure to participate risking rendering one asocial. His core critique held that products of capitalist culture, especially those marketed as rebellious, can only offer an illusion of defiance, as true rebellion is impossible because the system producing these commodities remains firmly controlled by the powerful. The very devices essential for consuming this culture often rely on minerals mined under appalling conditions, with cobalt and tantalum, critical for electronics, frequently sourced from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo using child labour and artisanal miners facing lethal hazards and exploitation, generating vast profits for multinational conglomerates further up the supply chain.
The Folklore of the Internet
With the widespread use of the Internet from the 1990s, the distinction between mass media and word-of-mouth has become blurred, creating a new layer of cultural mainstream that persists today in a form separate from mass-produced popular culture. This early layer of cultural mainstream still propagates by word of mouth rather than via mass media, in the form of jokes, urban legends, and memes that evolve and spread through digital networks. Although the folkloric element of popular culture engages heavily with the commercial element, communities amongst the public have their own tastes and they may not always embrace every cultural or subcultural item sold. Moreover, certain beliefs and opinions about the products of commercial culture may spread by word-of-mouth, and become modified in the process and in the same manner that folklore evolves. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok and Snapchat are the most popular applications used on a daily basis by younger generations, facilitating the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. Social media tends to be implemented into the daily routine of individuals in our current society, impacting the forms of communication used to connect with those in our communities, families, or friend groups. We often see that terms or slang are used online that is not used in face-to-face conversations, thus, adding to a persona users create through the screens of technology. Social media influencers have become trendsetters through their direct engagement with large audiences, upending conventional marketing and advertising techniques, with consumer purchase choices impacted by fashion partnerships, sponsored material and outfit ideas offered by influencers.
The Global Supply Chain
The culture industry not only standardizes taste but also rests upon and obscures a foundation of global exploitation, resource plunder, and the relentless pursuit of shareholder value above human dignity and ecological sustainability. While mega-stars achieve immense wealth, the system is structured so that the vast majority of revenue flows upwards: to platform owners, shareholders, and executives. The success of celebrities becomes a powerful marketing tool for the conglomerate itself, boosting its stock price and attracting investment, while obscuring the exploitative labour practices and environmental damage embedded within its global supply chains. The very devices essential for consuming this culture often rely on minerals mined under appalling conditions, with cobalt and tantalum, critical for electronics, frequently sourced from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo using child labour and artisanal miners facing lethal hazards and exploitation, generating vast profits for multinational conglomerates further up the supply chain. Corporate branding refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services, while personal branding includes the use of social media to promotion to brands and topics to further good repute among professionals in a given field, produce an iconic relationship between a professional, a brand and its audience that extends networks past the conventional lines established by the mainstream and to enhance personal visibility. As celebrities online identities are extremely important in order to create a brand to line-up sponsorships, jobs, and opportunities, influencers, micro-celebrities, and users constantly need to find new ways to be unique or stay updated with trends, in order to maintain followers, views, and likes.
The Evolution of Pop Music
The origins of popular music began in the late 1800s with the inventions of Edison's phonograph and Berliner's gramophone, both of which allowed for music to be available for purchase to the public rather than access to just the elites. Due to the almost nonexistent copyright laws, the early 1900s flourished with composers and publishers aiming to make and sell as much music as they could, with the hub for this activity being a small area of New York known as Tin Pan Alley, which quickly became one of the major spots for popular music as the demand grew intensely. Technological advances in the 1940s only furthered the success and popularity of the genre, with the reel-to-tape recorder being groundbreaking in terms of innovation and serving as the baseline for many more transformations this genre and the music industry as a whole will endure. Along with the continued innovation of popular music, multiple subset genres emerged as the new faces of popular music, all with the foundation of jazz and blues, including Rock and Roll, Punk, and Hip Hop. Due to the increasing mainstream success of popular music, artists of the genre grew in fame and popularity, with major singers and musicians including Michael Jackson, Madonna, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, Elvis Presley, Beatles, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift. Popular music will continue to be shaped by, and evolve to fit the tastes and preferences of the public, creating a dynamic interplay between commercial interests and artistic expression that defines the cultural landscape of the modern era.
The Art of Pop Culture
Pop art is an art movement that first emerged in the 1950s as a reaction and a counter to traditional and high-class art by including common and well-known images and references, with artists known during this movement including Eduardo Paolozzi, Richard Hamilton, Larry Rivers, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol. Pop culture fiction is a genre in books, comics, films, shows, and many other story-telling media that depicts stories that are purposely filled with easter eggs and references to pop culture, often overlapping with satire and parody, but the most-well known are considered to be more serious works of literature, with writers of this genre including Ernest Cline, Bret Easton Ellis, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and Louis Bulaong. Pop culture studies are researches thesis, and other academic works that analyzes various trends of pop and mass culture, pop icons, or the effects and influences of pop culture in society and history, with Ray B. Browne being one of the first academicians to conduct courses on the studies about pop culture. The impact of films and cinema are most evident when analyzing in the search of what the films aim to portray, with films used to seek acceptance and understanding of many subjects because of the influence the films carry, as an example of an early representation of this can be seen in Casablanca in 1942, where the film introduced war subjects to the public after the United States entered World War II, and it meant to increase pro-war sentiment for the allies. Films are a known massive influencer to popular culture yet not all films create a movement that contributes enough to be part of the popular culture that starts movements, as the content must resonate to most of the public so the knowledge in the material connects with the majority, creating a culture of film that is more evident through social media, which is an instant source of feedback and creates discussion on films.