Global popular culture

What is the definition for globalisation

Increasing interconnectedness of societies all over the world

What has globalisation lead to in terms of mass media

Consumers now have access to the same cultural products

What does McLuhan say

He referred to the world as a global village and says we are connected through new media and that new media shrinks the world to be one village

Give an example of the world being a global village

People all over the world are on apps like TikTok so the barriers of time and space between countries no longer exist

What are the 3 T’s in globalisation

• trade

• Technology

• Transport

How does trade impact the uk media

We have access to brand that were previously only accessible in one country e.g. things like boohoo and shein are now advertised and ship all over the world

How has technology impacted uk media

We can now access media from all over the world and streaming services allow us to watch to show or films from other cultures

How has transport impacted uk media

We can pick and mix where we travel to

What did few say about global popular culture

• the evolution of new media has lead to the development of global popular culture which undermines national or local cultures

• it may be more appropriate to look at the world as a global culture rather than smaller individual ones

Popular culture

• also known ass mass culture or low culture

• Highly commercialised

• Sold to global mass markets to make large profits from popular tastes

Give some examples of today’s popular culture

• love island

• Taylor swift

• Friends

• Disney

• Marvel

What are the negative aspects of popular culture

• bourgeoisie maintain control as the global consumption of popular culture leads to profit or them

• The dumbed down media distracts us - divide and rule

What is high culture

• special and respected, treated with reverence

• It has cultural heritage

• Often found in galleries, museums and theatres

Give examples of high culture

• literature

• Opera

• Classical music

• Mona Lisa

• Plays

What social class if high culture typically aimed at

Middle or upper class

How does high culture link to cultural capital and habitus

Someone with lots of cultural capital would have access to high culture where as someone with low cultural capital wouldn’t

Is there a blur between high and popular culture

Yes

• people singing opera on the voice

• Books being made into films e.g. Romeo and Juliet

• You can get posters of things like the Mona Lisa

What did strinati say about high culture

High culture is now part of popular culture and vice versa and there is no longer a distinction between the both of them

What are the 2 views we would use to criticise global popular culture

• Cultural optimists

• Cultural pessimists

Who is a cultural optimist

Post modernists

Who is a cultural pessimist

Marxists

What did cultural optimists say about globalisation

• it provides both economic and cultural benefits, gives people more choice and creates cultural hybrids

• Strinati says it allows us to challenge the messages transmitted through mass media

• Livingstone says that soaps (popular culture) often discuss things like sexual assault child abuse and homelessness

How does globalisation provide both economic and cultural benefits, gives people more choice and creates cultural hybrids

We can pick and mix things from different cultures such as food and fashion which allows for the discovery of personal identity - uses and gratifications model

Strinati says it allows us to challenge the messages transmitted through mass media - how

People who are media literate would be able to tell the difference b tween what’s real and fake - hyper reality

Livingstone says that soaps (popular culture) often discuss things like sexual assault child abuse and homelessness - how

Things like coronation street create a wide spread discussion in society about difficult issues within society

What do cultural pessimists say about globalisation

• the media is just mass produced infotainment with the aim to create profit

• Marcuse says that the media is locking people into a system where it prevents revolutionary change

• Kellner says globalisation. Has lead to sameness where everyone shares the same values and ideas

• Harvey referred to media as producing a candy floss culture

the media is just mass produced infotainment with the aim to create profit - how

• Netflix documentaries e.g. crime documentaries are an example of infotainment as its information that is shown in an entertaining way to create a profit

• Dumbed down media

Marcuse says that the media is locking people into a system where it prevents revolutionary change - how

The media creates a false class consciousness for the audience

Kellner says globalisation. Has lead to sameness where everyone shares the same values and ideas - how

There are very similar tv shows e.g. reality tv ad married at first sight/love island which also create very unrealistic beauty standards from westernise cultures

Harvey referred to media as producing a candy floss culture - what is it

The idea tat dumbed down media is just media that provides entertainment and isn’t challenging to watch or anything

Who came up with the theory of infotainment

Thussu

Who cam up with cultural imperialism

Fenton

What is cultural imperialism

When western values dominate over other cultures and so global doesn’t mean universal anymore

What is cultural homogenisation

When countries are becoming more alike

AO3 - things from media that western countries consume from eastern cultures

• k-pop

• Anime

• K-drama

• Pokémon

What does it mean to commodify a culture

Using someone’s culture to generate a profit

Give an example of when someone has commodified a culture

Pokémon go was created in California and created a huge profit while Pokémon originated in japan

Give examples of western media that lead to cultural imperialism

• tv shows e.g. friends

• Singers e.g. Taylor swift and the eras tour

• Films e.g. marvel

What would the fact of cultural imperialism have on local cultures

Erodes local cultures until were all part of a global village

Who cam up with McDonaldisation

Ritzer

What are some global brands that exist in the same format all over the world

• apple

• Netflix

• Love is blind

• Love island

What are the 4 concepts of mcdonalisation

• efficiency

• Calculability

• Predictability

• Control

How does efficiency link to media

We find the most efficient way of doing things e.g.

• TikTok to cure boredom

• Online shopping is faster than normal

• AI to find information faster

How is calculability seen in the media

• Things like shein produces mass amount of things for very low prices so we buy more of it

• YouTube has lots of videos you can watch which aren’t all high quality

How is predictability seen in the media

• you can expect the same thing from TikTok, YouTube shorts and instagram reels

• Romcoms always have the same story line

How do we see control in the media

Algorithms control what we see and what were exposed to