Culture and the Evolution of Media 01 18 2013 Culture the production and circulation of meaning pg 5 very important One of the most difficult concepts in English language Shared meanings through communication and language Study of everyday life General process of intellectual aesthetic and spiritual development Context historically dependent In general culture is the production and circulation of meaning Cultural industries The channels of communication that produce and distribute songs novels newspapers movies and other cultural products to large numbers of people The mass media are cultural industries Concept of cultural industry introduced by the Frankfurt school o Walter Benjamin of the Frankfurt School author of The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction o According to the Frankfurt school cultural industry is a theory of strong effects of the mass media o Cultural products are mass produces and are essentially no different than factories making flours soft drink cars etc an essembly line of producing culture Low culture mass culture appeals to the bigger masses because it is more easily accessible and consumed high and low culture is completely historically dependent Enlightenment period the first time people realized the value of humanity aka the human form Four big inventions of china Compass Paper Gun powder print The paper revolution huge change in communication because paper was light so it was easy to carry around and didn t fade Socratic method A dialogue style of communication and inquiry The print revolution was much faster to write than handwritten Block printing Typography Enabled mass produced reading materials Can spread info faster and further than ever before Writers can use print to disseminate views counter to traditional civic doctrine and religious authority paving the way for major social and cultural changes such as the transition from the feudalist to capitalist society Mass Media Mass Communication Cultural Industry 01 18 2013 01 18 2013