Monday, September 9, 2013

In his chapter on culturalism, Storey discusses the writings of several authors regarding their views on the subject and how they follow some of Leavisism's ideas and where they separate from it. First, Hoggart talks about the way culture changed from the 1930s to 1950s. In the 1930s he thought it lead to "the rich full life" but no longer held the same view about the 1950s. It had changed into something that the industries could use to exploit the masses and was much more shallow. Next, he looks at Williams' ideas on culture. He considers three categories: a process of human perfection, historical documents, and culture as a way of life. He gave the idea that the purpose of cultural analysis is to understand what culture is trying to convey regarding a group's shared experiences. Hall and Whannel look at quality within popular culture rather than it versus high culture. In doing so, they define popular culture as 'popular art' in order to create a working definition for the audience.

Hoggart's view used the same strategies as Leviasism but his dedication to the "working-class culture" separated him from it. Also, Leviasism would have scorned the rich full life and comradery that Hoggart praised of the 1930s. Williams' categories of culture are similar to the definitions presented by Storey in chapter 1 but Williams presents them in categories rather than separate definitions. Also, unlike Leviasism, Williams views art and culture not as a separate entity, but as a part of the human experience. He also wants to spread this culture to everyone, rather than the hierarchy Leviasism expects. Hall and Whannel's definition of popular culture as 'popular art' draws from one of Storey's definitions presented in the first chapter. Storey discussed the struggle with defining this but Hall and Whannel settle not the idea that popular art is not 'failed art' but art that "operates within the confines of popular."

I find Williams' and Hall and Whannel's ideas easier to follow regarding defining culture and popular which results in the definition of popular culture. Storey gave complex explanations regarding the difficulting of defining them in addition to several different definitions. However, by giving culture different categories rather than definitions, the concept is simplified, but not too general.

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