The introduction of Storey's Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction begins with idea that in order to talk about popular culture, we need to understand its definition. In line with Greene's idea that a writer should frame their writing in a way to create perspective for the reader, Storey suggests that the chosen definition of popular culture will affect this frame. Thus, it becomes very important to understand the way it can be defined. However, coming up with a definition is not so easy.
In order to understand popular culture, we should understand what the terms 'culture' and 'popular' mean first. Both, are also seemingly difficult to define. Storey lists several possible definitions. Culture can be defined as a way of life for a group of people, intellectual, spiritual or artistic development, or works and practices of intellectual and artistic activity. He then describes several possible definitions of popular. What stood out most to me was the first definition of culture: "a way of life for a group of people." I think this definition ties in to all of the other definitions for both popular and culture. The development of artistic texts have become a way of life for us. Using the definition of popular that describes it as "widely favored or well liked" gives the impression that something popular impacts the lives of many people, thus it is affects our way of life. Defining something as popular can also become a problem though. The term popular gives the impression that the subject is inferior because we often describe popular works as low art and others as high art. This line becomes gray when works go from being high or to being popular or when works go from low art to high art.
While it is difficult to define popular culture, we cannot ignore its importance. As Storey explains, studying popular culture is central to studying culture. This ties in to my chosen definition of culture as a way of life. If we want to understand a group's way of life, we should understand what that group finds important and finds favor in. Certainly if we spend many hours a week watching TV or playing video games, we find them important to us, otherwise we wouldn't partake in these activities. Thus, it is worth asking why we find them important and what influence those works have on our way of life.
In order to understand popular culture, we should understand what the terms 'culture' and 'popular' mean first. Both, are also seemingly difficult to define. Storey lists several possible definitions. Culture can be defined as a way of life for a group of people, intellectual, spiritual or artistic development, or works and practices of intellectual and artistic activity. He then describes several possible definitions of popular. What stood out most to me was the first definition of culture: "a way of life for a group of people." I think this definition ties in to all of the other definitions for both popular and culture. The development of artistic texts have become a way of life for us. Using the definition of popular that describes it as "widely favored or well liked" gives the impression that something popular impacts the lives of many people, thus it is affects our way of life. Defining something as popular can also become a problem though. The term popular gives the impression that the subject is inferior because we often describe popular works as low art and others as high art. This line becomes gray when works go from being high or to being popular or when works go from low art to high art.
While it is difficult to define popular culture, we cannot ignore its importance. As Storey explains, studying popular culture is central to studying culture. This ties in to my chosen definition of culture as a way of life. If we want to understand a group's way of life, we should understand what that group finds important and finds favor in. Certainly if we spend many hours a week watching TV or playing video games, we find them important to us, otherwise we wouldn't partake in these activities. Thus, it is worth asking why we find them important and what influence those works have on our way of life.
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