History of Pop Culture essays

History of Pop Culture essays Pop culture is a term given to describe all the various cultural elements found in any given society. These elements are often perpetuated through societys language, particularly vernacular language. It encompasses everything, from daily interactions between people, to the needs and desires of individuals and communities to the various cultural moments that surround our everyday lives within mainstream society. Further, pop culture includes such activities as cooking, clothing, fashion, consumption, entertainment, sports, literature and especially mass media. It is often through the mss distribution of these things that creates pop culture, or, in other words, makes that particular culture popular. In comparison, pop culture is often placed into contrast with the typically more exclusive and elitist high culture. Pop culture is something that is in a constant state of flux; therefore what was pop culture yesterday is no longer pop culture today. For this reason, pop culture is something that occurs uniquely in a specific place and time. It can be best described as a river that forms and reforms currents and eddies that each represent the complexity of the numerous, interdependent perspectives, values and institutions of society that, together, create pop culture. Often time pop culture grows out of a subculture that, through mass circulation, becomes mainstream and thus gain a widespread public appeal. In the twentieth century, especially the late twentieth century, mass media has come to be one of the main reasons for the growth of popular culture. Prior to mass media, everything was localized, or more community-based. It was not until the advent of mass media and mass production that the definition of a community grew and thus pop culture came into existence- something to appeal to the entire society. The process works by the media conveying the work and activities of others to the general populat...