Critique of Low Cultural and High Cultural Distinctions Explained through British Cultural Studies - Essay Example

?What's Cultural, And How Does The Critique Of The Low Cultural/High Cultural Distinction (Made Within British Cultural Studies) Help In Analysing Its Relationship To Communication? Table of Contents Introduction 3 Low Cultural and High Cultural Distinction: An Explanation from British Cultural Studies 4 What is Cultural according to British Cultural Studies 4 Critique of the Low Cultural/High Cultural Distinction in British Cultural Studies 5 Relationship of Low Cultural and High Cultural Distinctions with Communication 7 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction Throughout the world, cultural studies have been affecting mainstream academia. As the world approached towards the 20th century, the cultural environment was dramatically transformed by the inclusion of global media and information technologies. Consequently, the present era is intensely determined by new communication media channels and information technologies which further gave rise to the need for better perceptions which can be expressed as the linkage between technology, culture and everyday life. Several cultural studies have been performed focusing on the development of significant insights about the aspects of high culture and low culture. To be illustrated, British cultural studies contributed largely towards the distinction of high culture and low culture attributes (Seiler, n.d.). Emphasising on this context, the discussion will be based on the critique of low cultural and high cultural distinctions explained through British Cultural Studies. The objective of the discussion will be thus to recognise how this critique about low cultural and high cultural distinction can assist in analysing its relationship with communication. Low Cultural and High Cultural Distinction: An Explanation from British Cultural Studies British cultural studies were based on a tactic which avoided separation of cultural dimensions in high and low contexts viewing all forms of culture as worthy of criticism. In this context, it can be stated that the terminology of ‘high culture’ is used in several methods in academic discourse. In general sense, high culture is considered as a culture of elite which can be described as ‘gentry’ or ‘literati’. High culture is also demarcated as a source of broad cultural awareness as a way of surpassing the socio-economic classification system. It is distinguished with the terminology of ‘low culture’ or popular culture which simply denotes the social context comprising less educated people. It is also believed that low culture is often explained as an offensive term for popular culture. However, social philosophers depict both high culture and low culture as subcultures (Seiler, n.d.). What is Cultural according to British Cultural Studies The historic Cultural Revolution occurred in Great Britain following the World War 2. This revolution encompassed quick growth of mass society, proliferation of mass communication, downfall of Britain standardised population and Americanisation of British culture. The nation had struggled with the task of determining a new cultural and national individuality. Concerning the aspect of Cultural Revolution and cultural developments, several academics developed class oriented society. Throughout the mid-1960s researchers discovered culturally intermediated social relations and mass communication (Seiler, n.d.). According to the philosophies of British cultural studies, the term ‘culture’ can be defined as “a synthesis of ideal and the documentary into a social and sensuous human praxis” (Baker & et. al., 1996: 3). Hence, culture manifests itself in the organized pattern of human functions and efforts constituted by individuals and diverse practices. Thus, the subjects which satisfy these criteria are considered as cultural according to British Cultural Studies (Turner, 2003). Critique of the Low Cultural/High Cultural Distinction in British Cultural Studies Cultural studies came into the core of consideration on how sub-cultural groups struggle continuously to preserve the principal forms of culture and individuality, with the intention to form their individual style and identities. According to the British cultural studies, people who follow fashion codes, comportments and political principles develop their individualities within mainstream groups as a member of specific social grouping such as middle class standard people. On the other hand, people, who classify with subcultures such as punk or hip hop subgroups, are often observed to appear and act in a different way than those of the mainstream and hence develop oppositional individualities by describing themselves against standard models (Kellner, 2011). Thus, the development of British cultural studies was a part of reaction towards the struggle by different cultural groups, which have apparently developed new techniques and voices within cultural studies. British cultural studies were initially formed in the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) by theorists Richard Hoggart and Stuart Hall at the University of Birmingham (Seiler, n.d.). British cultural studies were determined by struggles in the contemporary political conjuncture and therefore, were greatly perceived by political interferences. The studies were fundamentally directed by analysing cultural and establishments within present system of power with an attempt to demonstrate how culture can provide tools and forces of command and resources for opposition (Kellner, 2011). British cultural studies reflect upon its basis where it was proposed that a “society is marked with fine elaborate lines of class distinction”. Richard Hoggart had described Britain as a stratified society having fairly powerful formation. He had believed that mass communication media should perform towards a culturally classless society (Schulman, 1993). It is obvious to state that British Cultural Studies performed against cultural selectiveness emphasising on the assumption that it contributed to the subjugation of working class. The initial ideological concept of British cultural studies was characterised by theorists Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams which had proactively rejected the elimination of popular culture from academic study with the desire to revalidate working class and popular culture (Burgess, 2004; Spitulnik, 1993). It is worth mentioning in this context that British cultural studies had developed ranges of critical methods in order to examine, understand and criticise cultural distinctions from a multidimensional perspective. Through a number of internal debates, British cultural studies became concentrated on the philosophies of class, gender, race, society and nationality in cultural contexts to determine the divergences of high cultural and lo cultural contexts. According to the perceptions guided through the British cultural studies, mass culture has been playing a significant role in assimilating the working class into capitalist societies during the era when media culture was founding a new method of capitalist domination. Notably, it was during this phase that Raymond Williams observed high culture as forces of opposition to capitalist modernism (Kellner, 2011). From the initiation phase, British cultural studies have been highly concentrated on the conflicts observable within oppositional subcultures. It had demonstrated how culture came to establish distinct forms of individuality. British cultural studies had also played a vital role insisting that culture should be studied within social relations. It thereby examined the role of media culture to influence the expressed set of principal standards of communication, political philosophies and cultural methods into a hegemonic system which integrate various cultural people into shared agreement. Contextually, the detrimental impact of British cultural studies for conceptualizing culture from socio political background provoked opposition against cultural distinctions. In practice, subcultures were of significant interest to British cultural studies. It is in this context that British cultural studies had developed a critique against high cultural context and low cultural context by abstracting culture as a mode of life which includes sensibility, values and practices. It argued for the requirement of thinking cooperatively and also observed the significance of media communication with the intention of overcoming the division between the contexts of high culture and low culture (Kellner, 2011). Relationship of Low Cultural and High Cultural Distinctions with Communication The distinction between high culture and low culture is weakening in present days. Post-modernist writers argue that mass market and society had made the distinction between high and low culture worthless. There has been enormous growth of creative and cultural activities in the form of advertisements, television programmes, movies, music, books and magazines which denotes the existence of varieties of communication and cultural products which are available for every cultural group. In the recent phenomenon, the mass communication technology through internet, cable, satellite television facilitated global reach of people, making different cultures easily accessible to everyone. Communication technology also enables products from one cultural group to be enjoyed by mass society without visiting particular institutes such as auditorium or art galleries. Hence, in the current day context, high culture no longer only conserves cultural elite opposing the basic explanation rendered by British cultural studies regarding the two major cultural contexts (Polity Books, 2008). In present days, individuals enjoy a broader variety of cultural alternatives and products available to them. For instance, once which was considered as high culture products such as ‘Tate Modern’, an art gallery of London, is enticed by great number of people from different cultural backgrounds today. Similarly ‘Live Opera’, which was also considered as high cultural products, are also available to mass culture in the present day context (Polity Books, 2008). It has been debated that the elements of high culture have now become an element of popular culture and similarly elements of popular culture have been assimilated into the previously categorised high culture. Hence, there is no longer any actual discrepancy between high and low culture. Furthermore, nowadays, it has become challenging for any one set of thoughts developed by high culture to dominate in the society, as several thoughts developed by low culture people are gaining significant admiration from mass culture including from high cultural groups (Lizardo & Skiles, 2007). Technology as a means of communication can be thus observed to help people to study high culture products. With the influence of communication, high culture has increasingly turned into products for sale in mass or popular culture. For instance, high culture products such as picture of ‘Mona Lisa’ can be imitated today to products such as apparels or foods among others targeting the popular culture (Polity Books, 2008). Conclusion Cultural studies have become an international phenomenon of great importance. In this regard, British cultural studies have apparently challenged the traditional thoughts of cultural distinctions between high culture and low culture. Through developing critiques, British cultural studies had depicted an individual understanding about culture. It had also described the importance of communication media for shaping the mass culture. The ideology presented in British cultural studies had further been observed to continuously modify their work in reaction to innovative academic and historical improvements. People, in present days, can be thus affirmed to live in thriving image culture where communication media are transforming every element of life from financial aspects to personal individuality. References Burgess, J., 2004. High Culture As Subculture: Brisbane’s Contemporary Chamber Music Scene. University of Queensland. [Online] Available at: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/28527/1/28527.pdf [Accessed November 09, 2012]. Baker, H. A. & et. al., 1996. Black British Cultural Studies: A Reader. University of Chicago Press. Kellner, D., 2011. Cultural Studies and Social Theory: A Critical Intervention. University of California. [Online] Available at: http://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/culturalstudiessocialtheory.pdf [Accessed November 09, 2012]. Lizardo, O. & Skiles, S., 2007. Cultural Consumption in the Fine and Popular Arts Realms. University of Notre Dame. Polity Books, 2008. Culture and Identity. Browne. [Online] Available at: http://politybooks.com/browne/downloads/sample-chapter_2.pdf [Accessed November 09, 2012]. Schulman, N., 1993. Conditions of their Own Making: An Intellectual History of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham. Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol. 18, No. 1. Seiler, R. M., No Date. Human Communication in the British Cultural Studies Tradition. University of Calgary. [Online] Available at: http://people.ucalgary.ca/~rseiler/british.htm [Accessed November 09, 2012]. Spitulnik, D., 1993. Anthropology and Mass Media. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 22, pp. 293-315. Turner, G., 2003. 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