Media and culture

Defining ‘Culture’ One of the slipperiest concepts in social theory –A 1952 survey of the anthropology literature by Kroeber and Kluckhorn identified 500 possible definitions Most recognized definition, by Tylor: –“Culture, or civilization, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”

Historical definition Emphasizes social heritage or social tradition People have a social and biological heritage that they get from a certain “group” with its own history. Sapir: “culture, that is,... the socially inherited assemblage of practices and beliefs that determines the texture of our lives”

Normative definition Patterns, rules and customs that may be arbitrary or artificial Titiev: “those objects or tools, attitudes, and forms of behavior whose use is sanctioned under given conditions by the members of a particular society” Bidney: “A culture consists of the acquired or cultivated behavior and thought of individuals within a society, as well as of the intellectual, artistic, and social ideals which the members of the society profess and to which they strive to conform.”

Psychological definition Culture represents the result of responses to physiological drives and needs or as the learning of culture Davis: “all behavior learned by the individual in conformity with a group”

Structural definition Definitions emphasizing the patterning or organization of a culture. –Relationships among elements Kluckhorn and Kelly: “a historically derived system of explicit and implicit designs for living, which tends to be shared by all or specially designated members of a group”

Kroeber and Parson “transmitted and created content and patterns of values, ideas, and other symbolic-meaningful systems as factors in the shaping of human behavior and artifacts produced through behavior”

Major theoretic concerns of cultural study Kinship systems and relations Religion Nationalism Race Myths and rituals Value systems Conformity/deviance Art/Literature Economic System Politics

Relation with media Clearly, there are close ties to the media of communication Media industries produce a vast array of cultural artifacts Many of the values, beliefs, etc. of society influence the production of media content which, in turn, may undermine or support those same values and beliefs

Major concerns High v. low culture –Uplifting of masses v. degradation of popular morals, aesthetic tastes Free v. controlled culture –Impact of structural power on nature of content produced Critical theory –Ideology, hegemony Avant-garde

Major concerns Presentation of values in mass content –Morality –System support –Consensus –Portrayal of groups

Major concerns Community-building –Chicago School of Sociology –Community press –Ethnic groups and media Racism, Sexism, etc.

Common division of ‘cultures’ High culture Folk culture Mass or popular culture