So, the first item addressed by Morrell, is the most important: What is Popular Culture? When I first began thinking about the topic, I had this idea in my head about pop culture; movies, TV, anything mainstream, i.e., Comic-Con. I didn't think it was that difficult to define; however, it seems to be a topic that is vague because many different people have many different opinions about what it is.
Morrell believes that in order to understand pop culture, one must first understand cultural theory. So here is the abbreviated Cliff Notes version, according to Morrell, as interpreted by yours truly.
Two schools of thought emerged in the 20th century, and both had beliefs concerning pop culture.
The Frankfurt School of Social Research
- began in the late 1920s; was a collaboration of philosophers, sociologists, and literary theorists
- the combination of the school's Marxism and psychoanalysis became known as critical theory
- believed that modern society was a struggle between two economic classes: bourgeoisie (property-owning class) and the proletariat (working class)
- since the bourgeoisie controlled the economic base of society, they also controlled the cultural institutions of that society...basically they controlled what they wanted promoted to society
- Antonio Gramsci - a Marxist theorist - sought to find a way to explain how the majority of people would accept a system that oppressed them, without rebelling or revolting
- added the term, hegemony - the ideas, strategies, and beliefs that the dominant class uses to gain support/consent from the lower class - I think of this as propaganda techniques that are used to manipulate society (two other theorists Max Horkheimer and Ted Arno termed the media, popular music, film, and TV as cultural industries; the industries that promoted the beliefs)
Onto the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS)
- founded by Richard Hoggart as a place to engage in the study of mass culture
- along with Raymond Williams and Stuart Hall, they sought to create a way to celebrate the everyday mass culture of the working-class (notably absent in the Frankfurt School)
Differences?
- Frankfurt School saw popular culture as a tool for social control, whereas the CCCS saw it as a celebration and as a sire of resistance
Morrell notes that together these two schools reveal a tension in cultural theory and the study of popular culture..."the same culture that represents working-class resistance can also be marketed to reinforce social inequality." (28)
To help explain popular culture further, Morrell relies on the work of John Storey, from his book An Introductions to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. Storey created six definitions that Morrell will use throughout his book. They are:
- Popular culture is culture that is well liked by many people
- Popular culture is what remains after we have decided what is high culture
- Popular culture is mass culture
- Popular culture is that culture which originates from the people
- Popular culture is inspired by ne0-Gamscian hegemony theory
- Popular culture can be viewed through the lens of postmodernism that no longer recognizes the distinction between high and popular culture (31-32)
Two others that Morrell references are Henry Giroux, one of the American cultural theorists responsible for bringing the discussion of popular culture in to education, and Jabari Mahiri, who examines the curricular practices of urban teachers and how they might challenge dominant norms and standards that may be detrimental to students and families.
What does it all mean? The study of popular culture and the implications it has on students is necessary for teachers, especially due to fact that our students are inundated, daily, with various cultural aspects of society.
So, next time, we shall look at reasons why it is imperative that we examine the role of pop culture in the lives of our students, and how we might utilize it in order to help engage and motivate students, while also improving their literacy.
Morrell, E. (2004). Linking Literacy and Popular Culture: Finding Connections for Lifelong Learning. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.
Hi Misty: I think this is a great topic. Aside from the general curriculum that is required to teach, I too believe it is important to reach children from their interests - their popular culture. Also, it is important to know where these children are coming from in the home and the popular culture approach can be a link to us understanding them better. I am looking forward to the suggestions of your book.
ReplyDeleteMisty,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in middle and high school, we had a unit at least once per semester on "media literacy." Our media literacy teacher talked to us about pop culture--starting from the things we were most interested in, and then also talked to us about the contradictions that abound in advertising, television, magazines, etc. It was not only a way of connecting with the students, but also a way of forcing us to start to think critically about the images, grandnarratives, and cultural assumptions in which we were surrounded every day. So, pop culture was both an entry point and a starting point for critical thinking. I look forward to hearing more.
Misty, I wonder if there needs to be a differentiation between "teaching pop culture" and "teaching through pop culture". I agree with Erin and Laurie that we need to engage students in interesting ways and reaching them where the live is a perfect place to be. Good teaching practice begins with knowing your students and where they are coming from.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading more of your posts!
Misty: I found the definitions of pop culture very helpful. Thanks for taking the trouble. Who knew there were "schools of thought" of pop culture (almost an oxymoron)!? As I was reading about the Frankfurt School, I was wondering what it might have to say about the counter-culture of the 1960s; how that evolved into the pop culture; and how that pop culture ultimately became co-opted and commercialized by corporate powers. American Idol might be an example. It might not exist if it weren't for the 1960s, but it is completely controlled by corporate America despite the populist façade.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteIt's me Noha Ghaly in case my name does not show :( This is an interesting topic!! I see it very much in line with what Paulo Freire's article “The illiteracy of literacy in the United States" in which he stressed the importance of how the educational system in schools negate students’ histories, cultures and other dau-to-day experiences. He also highlighted how school values work counter to the interests of these students. It is as if the system were put in place to ensure that these students pass through school and leave it as illiterates.
That is why I see your book here a great step toward the inclusion of more students in the US educational system!!
Hey, Misty...
ReplyDeleteI'm just now working my way through your blog, and I'm already thrilled! I wonder, for instance, if the two propositions (popular culture as a tool for social control v. as a site for resistance) are dichotomous? Is it really Either/Or or can it be Both and More?
I remember the first course I took as an undergraduate that was really focused on the teaching of writing... I centered it on an analysis of song lyrics and connected it to my goals of teaching rhetorical strategies and poetic devices, and used Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" in the classroom. I think popular culture is ripe with challenging, complex texts that we can use to help students to question, challenge, and analyze... while at the same time promoting student engagement.