COMM 2360 1nd Edition Lecture 2Outline of Last Lecture I. Discuss syllabusOutline of Current Lecture II. Crashing the Culture IndustryIII. Approach to Rhetoric and Culture IV. Defining Pop CultureV. The Frankfurt School Current LectureCrashing the Culture Industry/ Everything you wanted to know but didn’t know how to ask for- Culture is one of 2-3 of most complicated words in English language- from reading - Look at other cultures- how they define “popular culture” Approach: Rhetoric and Culture - Symbolic phenomena- o Rhetoric is all about how ppl interpret/comm/live the world to others around them o Comm is always with us- in every convo- but it’s invisible - Representation o In what ways does our mediated cultural environment rep the world/make sense of it o Do rep exhibit biases- what’s on/pushed off screen - Mediated o Electronic media- spurred pop culture - Political force- o Symbolic AND political force component (do things in world/write ppl in and out of power) - Circulation o Can’t just look at broadcast- o Culture comes from Greek word for “circle”- kuklos (greek)- circle/cycleo Cult= circle of pplo Cultivation= dig into cycle- evolutionary process- These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.o Culture is that process- can’t just look at way broadcast companies shoot msgs into brain in linear way- have to look at how received/process/interpreted/torn apart/put back togethero What cultivars of new ways of thinking about culture produce o How we reproduce culture - Patterns o Identify patterns/stories that show up again and again in diff contexts- o Patterns in how power exerts itself- what’s included/excludedo Promotion/protection of power o Patterns have discovered/rediscovered by cultural critics “Popular Culture” is… - List that shows up in Jenkins readingso Short lived/fad/culture?  Transient o Youth culture?  “what’s on the radio is determined by 12 year old girls” - Will look at economics of age o Culture for masses of people?  Margins vs. mainstream- what everyone can recognize- what ppl clued in to  Think of it like a bell curve (middle- big clump- tails- extremes-) - Many ppl see culture as bell curve flattened by new media- not asmuch of a mainstream- tails are longer- long tailed theory - De-valuing of mainstream culture o A way to distinguish trash from “real art”  Culture that does not measure up to def of real art  Each has confessed that you watch trash culture o What’s produced by commercial media?  As opposed to culture that is “underground” - Some of what we have in Athens is underground- it’s not handed down via MTV/radio stations- it’s made by people in the course ofliving lives - Think about the word popular- related to “people”- tradition def of popular culture o What’s produced by regular people in everyday life?  Last two are salient- diametrically opposed  Two things are in a sense always butting heads- vying for definitional power- two distinct spheres of interactivity Ex. “selling out”- from band- Paramore- talking about two definitions- entering into commercial sphere- HIGHLY antagonistic The Frankfurt School - One of main figures that ppl look to when trying to make sense of culture/ rhetoric - Max Horheimer and Theodor Adorno o Both German/fled Germany during WWII in US- saw what was coming (Adorno- Jewish)- spent time in Hollywood- dvlpmt of Hollywood film industry- (1940/50s- starting to take off with television) o From Frankfurto Observe what’s going on in AM culture- what’s not happening in Europe necessarily-  BUT did use film- rebuilt movie theater first when everything bombed- build Fascism - Established “Critical Theory” o Say things about media/commercial production of media o Have interest in media and POWER  How entertainment media exerts power- - Focus on culture and control o In some ways devotees of Marxism- in some ways critical o And econ system puts ideas in ppl heads that prevent them from rebelling against exploitation of econ system Took basic Marxist idea and applied to media system  How does commercial media exert power in a population?  Highly attuned to fact that media could be used for propaganda system- looking at commercial economic system  Look at diffused econ system that in some way works to est some ideas (but not all propaganda system) - The “Culture Industry” o Film, radio, television o Use this in acerbic way (to make a point) o The “Art Factory”- strange because what makes art meaningful- is that some intelligent person made it and want’s to share it with you- when factory-ized- loses meaningful quality/aura of connection with the actual intelligence that made it  Why original piece of art more valuable than print- people find connection with the artist-  Art factory- mechanizes/rationalizes everything- dehumanized This is what Adorna/Horkheimer wanted to comm when came up with the “Culture Industry” o Mechanizing culture- culture is fundamentally different than what it’s even there fore - Core values: o 1. Authenticityo 2. Meaningful art  Idea of an art factory challenges idea of authenticity (what comes off factory line is unauthentic- less meaningful) o 3. Cultural freedom  Is there space to act in the culture to control cultural manifestations that exist? Who controls the storytelling in a culture? The people? Hollywood?Profits? And to what ends do they control the culture? The Culture Industry - Horkheimer/Adorno wanted art factories to seem ABSURD- oxymoronic - Oxy- “sharp”; moron-“dull” in Greek - Entrance of large, corporate entertainment institutions (diff than how produced in the past) o Early history of film in 20s—diff than how it’s done now  There were huge studio lots- looks like a German factory (even moving parts- stable of writers/ stable of actors (without clout- hadn’t created cult of actors like Tom Cruise yet)/ stable of light ppl etc) then bring everything together and start cranking out movies to serve the needs of apop that’s now attuned to publishing house makes great “insert specific product” i.e. spaghetti westerns  MACHINE GOING TO WORK in twentieth century  Modern day ex- soap operas- always cranking out material ASAP - Looks like days of