PPC

Prelim

Culture

It is the way you see the world, think, and express yourself in daily life.

Popular Culture (Pop Culture)

It refers to the everyday ideas, practices, and products embraced by the public. It reflects current trends and social values, evolving with the interests and experiences of ordinary people across different countries.

Accessibility, Popularity, and Commercialism

Characteristics of Popular Culture

Accessibility

Pop culture is easy to understand and available to people across ages and social classes

Outdoor movie night

Also known as open-air cinemas/drive-in theater held worldwide and feature popular films for free or at low cost

Popularity

Pop culture becomes mainstream because many people relate to or participate in it.

Jeepney Culture

Not just a mode of transportation, but a symbol life

Commercialism

Many elements of pop culture are created and marketed for profit, such as fan merchandise, events, and digital content.

TOYCON PH

Philippines largest and longest-running convention for toys, hobbies, and collectibles, around 50,000 visitors each year and considered as the leading pop culture event in the Philippines

High Culture

It refers to the artistic and intellectual expressions associated with educated and elite sectors of society. It includes forms valued for their historical, aesthetics, and intellectual depth.

Validation, Sophistication, and Exclusivity

Characteristics of High Culture

Validation

High culture is often supported and legitimized by formal institutions such as museums which preserve, fund, and promote art forms.

Sophistication

High culture emphasizes the creativity, intellectual depth, and refined techniques. These works are often studied in academic settings and praised by critics.

Johann Sebastian Bach

He studied in music conservatories and performed by symphony orchestras worldwide

Exclusivity

Access to high culture can be limited by cost, location, or social perception, often making it more accessible to privileged groups.

Folk Culture

It includes customs and practices that grow within communities and are shared through daily interaction and participation. It is not made for profit or mass appeal but it takes everyday forms like songs, dances, crafts, and stories, passed on through personal and communal experience.

Tradition, Locality, and Symbolism

Characteristics of Folk Culture

Tradition

It is the customs and knowledge passed down through generations by word of mouth or daily practice.

Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao

An oral tradition performed during agricultural and communal rituals and a song/poem for rice planting or harvesting.

Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk

European folktales to entertain

Locality

It reflects the distinct practices, materials, and ways of life tied to a specific region, environment, or community.

Kalinga Tattooing

Also known as Batok which reflects tribal identity, records personal and social milestones, and represents one’s status in the community

Maori in New Zealand

Traditional form of tattooing art that symbolizes identity, ancestry, and cultural belonging

Ta Moko

Tattoos on the face

Maon

People’s who have Maori tattoos

Symbolism

It is the everyday rituals and objects express deeper beliefs, spiritual values, or social meaning central to the community.

Panag-apoy in Sagada

It involves families lighting bonfires in cemeteries on All Saints’ Day to honor and connect with their ancestors.

Obon in Japan

An annual Buddhist tradition that honors the spirits of ancestors, who are believed to return temporarily to visit their families.

National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)

National Government Agency for culture and the arts in the Ph

April 3, 1992 and enacted through RA 7356

It was the date when NCCA was signed into a law and its RA when enacted.

NCCA

It serves as the overall policymaking, coordinating, and grants-giving body for the development and promotion of culture and the arts.

Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)

It was established in 1966 to promote and present the performing and visual arts in the country.

CCP

It primarily focuses on High Culture, including classical music, ballet, theater, and visual arts, but it also features folk and contemporary works through festivals and outreach program

Philippine Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka

It highlights the country’s rich cultural heritage through the largest collaboration of Filipino weavers. It blends traditional craftmanship with immersive technology, displaying how cultural institutions and government agencies collaborate to promote culture, diplomacy, and sustainable development worldwide.

Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc.

It is the company who designed the inspired-woven.

Chochay Garcia, Arc. Yuki Kanou, Tellart, and Ballet Philippines.

The people who are in the creative production of the woven.

Indigenous Peoples (IPs)

It is a broad legal term for recognizing the collective rights of native ethnic groups

Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs)

It refers to a specific local communities that share common cultural practices and traditions. It is the central to the roots of folk culture in the Philippines.

Luzon

It is the home of the Igorot of the Cordilleras, as well as the Aeta, Mangyan, and Palawan peoples. These groups are known for their deep ties to ancestral land and their preservation of traditional practices.

Ati of Panay Island

Visayas is represented by this group who maintained unique identities despite smaller populations

Mindanao

It is the home of Lumad (a collective term for non-Muslim Indigenous groups) and Moro (indigenous Muslim communities)

Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 (RA 8371)

It upholds the right of Indigenous communities to ancestral land, self-governance, and cultural integrity

National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

It implemented the RA 8371

DepEd Indigenous Peoples Education Program (IPED)

Program that promote culture-based learning

Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR)

It ensures that Indigenous voices are heard in local governance

Cultural Sensitivity

It means engaging with the Indigenous cultures respectfully and responsibly.

Engage

Build knowledge from reliable sources and listen to Indigenous voices through books, talks, and direct community engagement.

Consult

Always ask permission before using Indigenous designs, symbols, or stories, especially in arts, media, or products.

Support

Give proper credit to Indigenous creators and promote their work fairly.

Cultural Studies Theory

It is an interdisciplinary field that explores how culture connects with power, identity, and society.

Power, Representation, and Interpretation

Core Principles of Cultural Studies Theory

Power

It reflects who holds influence in society.

Representation

It is they way people, groups, and issues are portrayed in media.

Interpretation

People understand and react to messages based on their personal experiences, beliefs, and social backgrounds.

Stuart Hall (1932-2014)

He was a central figure in Cultural Studies, best known for developing the encoding/decoding model. His work foregrounded the role of hegemony, race, and identity.

Raymond Williams (1921-1988)

He asserted the “culture is ordinary”, emphasizing everyday life and popular practices. He introduced the idea of “structures of feeling” to capture unspoken emotional and cultural experiences by historical conditions. He also advanced a materialistic approach.

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937)

He is deeply influenced the field with his of cultural hegemony. He argued that dominant groups maintain power by shaping cultural norms to reflect their interests. And he created the concept of organic intellectual.

Media and Communication

Subcultures and Youth Culture

Postcolonial Studies

Gender and Queer Studies

Applications of Cultural Studies Theory

Media and Communication

Cultural studies examines how communication practices and media use influence everyday meaning-making. It provides a basis for understanding cultural power and representation.

Subcultures and Youth Culture

Subcultures like punk, hip-hop, or skateboarding show how marginalized groups create identities and values that resist mainstream norms. These cultures often reflect issues of class, race, and generational conflict.

Postcolonial Studies

Cultural studies explores how colonialism continues to shape identity, language, and representation in formerly colonized societies. It focuses on cultural hybridity, resistance, and the enduring effects of imperialism on global power and culture.

Gender and Queer Studies

Cultural studies uses insights from feminism and queer theory to examine how gender roles and gender identities are represented and understood in society. It explores how media, language, and institutions influence perceptions and experiences related to gender and sexuality.