soc. 118: media, culture & society
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Soc. 118: Media, Culture & SocietyCourse Basics:
Enrollment Review syllabus Class website:
www.profstein.wordpress.com
IntroductionWhat is sociology?
Study of societySociology of Culture
Study of cultural objects Significance embodied in form
Mass media and popular culture The Digital Age
Example: Did You Know? 4.0
Chapter 1: Overview
The Social Organization of Popular CultureWhat Makes Pop Culture Popular? What is Culture?The Social Context of Pop CultureAudiences and Popular CultureProducing and Consuming Popular CultureThree Approaches to Studying Media and Popular
Culture
The Social Organization of Popular Culture
Historical cyclesRediscovery and reinventionCreators draw upon past
work The origins of “SOS (Rescue Me)”
Emerges through collective activityNetworks of creatorsNo lone artists
Produced and consumed in social contextSets of relationships
What Makes It Popular Culture? 1. Well-liked
Commercial success
2. Globally ubiquitous
Easily recognized
3. Mass culture for general consumption
Lowest common denominator
4. Folk expressions belonging to the people
Populism and authenticity
What is Culture?Defining Culture
• Humanities/Social Sciences
• Culture is: Symbolic Socially constructed Embodied
• Sociology of Culture Study of cultural objects
Significance embodied in form
Possible range Art, tools, media, symbols,
gestures
Pop culture as collective actionArt Worlds (Howard Becker)
Creative Networks Division of labor Support personnel Cooperative links
Examples from culture industries Music
Example: Stein’s Research Film, TV, print
The Social Context of Pop Culture
Big Mama Thornton
Elvis Presley
“Why 1955?: Explaining the Advent of Rock Music” (Richard Peterson)
“Hound Dog”Social forces shape
productionEconomyTechnology Suburbanization Laws
Audiences, Production and ConsumptionCultural objects are multivocal
• Different meaning and interpretation• Social background of audience
Interpretive communities• Shared identity and experience• Shapes preferences
Genres Example: Native Americans and “Westerns”
• Media gatekeepers influence choices
Collective consumption• In groups, in public, in virtual communities
Example: MMORGs
New technologies blur production and consumption• Audience as creators• Mash-ups
Example: “Grey Album”
The Searchers
World of Warcraft
Danger Mouse
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