PART 1: TEXT AND CULTURAL MEANING
HIGH CULTURE VS POPULAR CULTURE
no extra literature
1. WHAT IS CULTURE?
= the shared beliefs, values, norms and social actions that provide meaning in an otherwise meaningless world.
(Emile Durkheim & Max Weber)
Human condition: unlike other animals, which mostly act on instinct, humans are culture-creating animals.
Social function: culture helps create order and meaning. E.g. religion
Durkheim’s perspective: being “outside” culture leads to anomie (= a state of normlessness or madness),
showing how essential culture is for social and psychological stability.
Culture is socially constructed. There is a mutual relationship:
- We shape culture, and culture shapes us.
- Culture can liberate (give freedom, identity, meaning) but also limit (impose norms, restrictions)
Culture differs in time, place and varies per social group.
Cultures create in-group cohesion (solidarity) and can lead to out-group conflict (division).
The study of cultural meaning is descriptive, not prescriptive: it doesn’t judge what is “true” or “better”.
- Researcher should remain neutral, value-free and agnostic in their approach.
- You’re not studying what is true, but what people believe is true.
2. HIGH ‘BROW’ CULTURE VS LOW ‘BROW’ CULTURE
Norbert Elias – The Civilizing Process (1939)
Focus: how the cultural elite / aristocracy in Western Europe shaped standards of culture since the middle
ages.
Attitude towards popular culture: often looked down upon as uncivilized, simplistic, vulgar, uncontrolled,
and sometimes even applied to non-Western cultures.
Distinction through high art, refined manners and control over emotions (e.g., sexual impulses, violence)
creates a regime of civilization
Cultural diffusion:
- Trickling down: ordinary people gradually adopt the cultural standards of the elite.
- Spiraling up: over time, the overall level of civilization increases in society.
Cultural elite Ordinary people
High-brow culture: art, abstract forms Low-brow culture: folklore, realistic forms
Civilized: showing refined and cognitive behavior Uncivilized: expressing raw and emotional behavior
3. 20TH CENTURY: MASS MEDIA CULTURE
20th century: the rise and growing influence of mass media
1920s: The “Golden Age of Hollywood” marks the beginning of mass entertainment.
Mass media culture includes film, radio, advertising, and celebrities aimed at mass consumption.
Reaction cultural elite: they’re concerned about the moral influence of mass media on society, fearing it
could undermine high culture (= art, high values, norms, socialization and lifestyle)
,Culture theory about the “culture industry” (Horkheimer & Adorno, 1944)
Elitist perspective: critiques mass-produced culture and its effects on society.
Key ideas:
- Standardization and commercialization of culture: cultural products are made to sell, losing uniqueness
and depth.
- Passive audiences: people consume culture without critical thinking, becoming passive rather than
engaged.
- Decline of high culture and civilization: classic music, art, literature and philosophy are overshadowed by
mass culture, potentially leading to a wider decline in refined taste and societal sophistication.
In academia, the “dumbing-down thesis” refers to the idea that mass culture lowers intellectual and cultural
standards, making society less sophisticated and more superficial.
4. THE SOCIAL MEANING AND ACADEMIC RELEVANCE OF STUDYING MEDIA CULTURE
Elitist exclusion: popular and mass media culture were often ignored or undervalued in academia and high culture.
Shift since the 1970s/1980s: scholars began studying media and popular culture, focusing on:
- Text studies: analyzing media content.
- Audience studies: exploring how individuals and social groups interpret media.
- Key question: what is the cultural meaning of mass media for people and society?
Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (1964-2002):
- Critiqued the idea of the passive audience in behaviorism, psychology (media-effects) and neo-Marxist
theories (culture industry)
- Famous contribution: Stuart Hall’s “Encoding-Decoding Model” (1980), explaining how audiences
interpret media messages differently from producers’ intended meaning.
From mass media to internet, social media and influencers:
Focus on both consumption and production of media culture.
User-Generated Content (UGC): posting, sharing and appropriating content is producing media culture
(= reflecting and spreading values, norms and social practices in a mediatized society)
MEDIA AND IDEOLOGY
Holt, D. (2006) Jack Daniel’s America. Iconic Brands as ideological parasites and proselytizers. Journal of Consumer
Culture, 6(3), pp. 355-377.
Redden, D. (2017) ‘Is Reality TV Neoliberal?’ Television and New Media, 19 (5), pp. 399-414.
1. MEDIA TEXT AND CULTURAL MEANING
Media-content = texts containing cultural narratives that both reflect and shape society.
Media texts can be original, realistic or fictional, but in all cases, they express the values and norms of the society in
which they are created.
Audiences consume, interpret and absorb these texts. Through this process, media texts reproduce and shape the
culture (values and norms) of society.
,Relation between media text and society.
=> rooted in the critical theory, especially the neo-Marxist perspective.
Focus: how media reflects and reproduces social inequality.
In neo-Marxist theory, society is understood as consisting of two layers:
The base (economy):
- The material and economic structures of society, such as production, labor, and ownership of capital.
- The base determines the conditions of everyday life (who works, who owns, who benefits)
The superstructure (culture/ideology):
- Includes culture, ideas, religion, norms, values, law, and politics.
- The superstructure is shaped by the base but also influences how people understand and accept society.
The dominant class uses the superstructure to justify and maintain its power. As a result, people often see
inequality as natural (false consciousness).
=> function of ideology: to hide inequality and exploitation, making society seem fair and stable.
Neo-Marxists such as Louis Althusser (1918–1990) and Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) shifted the focus from the
economy (= “base”) to culture and ideology (=“superstructure”). They examine not only class but also inequalities
like gender and ethnicity. Ideology spreads through institutions, such as schools, journalism, and media, with mass
media playing a key role in shaping and sharing ideas throughout society.
The research agenda focuses on how dominant ideas and inequality appear in different areas, texts, and media. It
also aims to promote equality and support minorities. Examples include studying gender roles, heteronormativity,
race, ethnicity, and the ideas behind neo-liberal capitalism (e.g., Redden, 2017)
2. IDEOLOGY OF (NEO)LIBERALISM
Liberalism = a political ideology promoting a minimal role of the government, a free market and individual
responsibility.
From the 1980s onwards, with leaders like Thatcher and Reagan, and later Clinton and Blair, neo-liberalism became
dominant. This shift meant embracing global capitalism and reducing social care.
What started as a particular political current developed into a hegemonic ideology*, spreading ideas such as:
Capitalism and consumption are good.
The individual is responsible for both success and failure.
People must discipline themselves, both in mind and body.
According to Foucault (in Redden, p. 404), this ideology works as a form of “soft power”: it shapes how people think and
behave, without direct force.
*dominant or leading in a way that feels natural or taken for granted.
2.1.Critics in the social sciences
The Apprentice (2004)
The reality show has been criticized for its explicit celebration of neo-liberalism. The program promotes values such
as self-responsibility, discipline, open competition, and a lack of empathy or solidarity.
, According to Redden, reality TV is inherently neoliberal, since neoliberal logic appears both in the textual features of
the shows (competition, elimination, winners vs. losers) and in the material conditions of production (low costs, high
profits, and individual branding).
Survivor (1992 – …)
The reality show presents neo-liberalism in a disguised, romantic-nostalgic setting. Although participants appear to
work together as a group, the ultimate goal is always individual victory. Success is framed as a matter of personal
performance and self-discipline, while failure marks someone as a “loser.” In this way, the show naturalizes neo-
liberal values: competition, individual responsibility, and the idea that only the strongest deserve to succeed.
The Biggest Loser (2004 – 2020)
The show reflects the neo-liberal ideology of self-responsibility and discipline through the theme of weight loss. From
a neo-liberal perspective, the body is something to be self-optimized:
Fatness signifies lack of control and failure: people are “losers” because they didn’t discipline themselves.
Slimness signifies control, success and achievement: people are “winners” because they worked hard.
=> creates a clear message: fat is for losers, slimness is for winners.
The show links this to the broader neo-liberal idea of individuals as self-responsible, enterprising authors of their
own lives (Redden, 2018). Contestants’ biographical stories reinforce this: they are portrayed as conquering personal
problems through willpower.
Finally, audience applause and media rituals confirm this logic socially, turning personal weight loss into collective
validation. In doing so, The Biggest Loser helps naturalize and normalize a neo-liberal view of the body: health,
slimness, and success are framed as a matter of individual responsibility, discipline, and hard work.
Extreme Make-over (2002 – 2007)
The show portrays plastic surgery as a way for people to become “more themselves.” Surgeons claim that the new
face or body looks “more natural,” while patients say they feel “good” and “authentic.”
From a neo-Marxist perspective, this can be seen as false consciousness: people believe they are freely choosing
surgery, while in fact they are reproducing Western neo-liberal ideals about beauty, health, and identity.
The show helps to naturalize and normalize these ideals, presenting them as “natural,” “healthy,” or even “universal,”
instead of recognizing them as specific cultural and ideological values.
The assumption is that a hegemonic ideology like neo-liberalism spreads through many different media forms and
becomes normalized because it is dominant. We see it not only in reality shows, but also in films, games, series,
social media images, and advertising.
3. ADVERTISING: ICONIC BRANDS AS IDEOLOGICAL PARASITES
Douglas Holt (2006) argues that iconic brands (e.g., Coke, Nike, Apple, Starbucks) do not just sell products, but also
reproduce and reinforce existing hegemonic ideologies and cultural myths. Because these brands are so
omnipresent and repetitive, they spread dominant values and make them feel natural. In this way, brands function as
symbols loaded with cultural meaning. This critique is similar to Naomi Klein’s analysis in No Logo (1999).
HIGH CULTURE VS POPULAR CULTURE
no extra literature
1. WHAT IS CULTURE?
= the shared beliefs, values, norms and social actions that provide meaning in an otherwise meaningless world.
(Emile Durkheim & Max Weber)
Human condition: unlike other animals, which mostly act on instinct, humans are culture-creating animals.
Social function: culture helps create order and meaning. E.g. religion
Durkheim’s perspective: being “outside” culture leads to anomie (= a state of normlessness or madness),
showing how essential culture is for social and psychological stability.
Culture is socially constructed. There is a mutual relationship:
- We shape culture, and culture shapes us.
- Culture can liberate (give freedom, identity, meaning) but also limit (impose norms, restrictions)
Culture differs in time, place and varies per social group.
Cultures create in-group cohesion (solidarity) and can lead to out-group conflict (division).
The study of cultural meaning is descriptive, not prescriptive: it doesn’t judge what is “true” or “better”.
- Researcher should remain neutral, value-free and agnostic in their approach.
- You’re not studying what is true, but what people believe is true.
2. HIGH ‘BROW’ CULTURE VS LOW ‘BROW’ CULTURE
Norbert Elias – The Civilizing Process (1939)
Focus: how the cultural elite / aristocracy in Western Europe shaped standards of culture since the middle
ages.
Attitude towards popular culture: often looked down upon as uncivilized, simplistic, vulgar, uncontrolled,
and sometimes even applied to non-Western cultures.
Distinction through high art, refined manners and control over emotions (e.g., sexual impulses, violence)
creates a regime of civilization
Cultural diffusion:
- Trickling down: ordinary people gradually adopt the cultural standards of the elite.
- Spiraling up: over time, the overall level of civilization increases in society.
Cultural elite Ordinary people
High-brow culture: art, abstract forms Low-brow culture: folklore, realistic forms
Civilized: showing refined and cognitive behavior Uncivilized: expressing raw and emotional behavior
3. 20TH CENTURY: MASS MEDIA CULTURE
20th century: the rise and growing influence of mass media
1920s: The “Golden Age of Hollywood” marks the beginning of mass entertainment.
Mass media culture includes film, radio, advertising, and celebrities aimed at mass consumption.
Reaction cultural elite: they’re concerned about the moral influence of mass media on society, fearing it
could undermine high culture (= art, high values, norms, socialization and lifestyle)
,Culture theory about the “culture industry” (Horkheimer & Adorno, 1944)
Elitist perspective: critiques mass-produced culture and its effects on society.
Key ideas:
- Standardization and commercialization of culture: cultural products are made to sell, losing uniqueness
and depth.
- Passive audiences: people consume culture without critical thinking, becoming passive rather than
engaged.
- Decline of high culture and civilization: classic music, art, literature and philosophy are overshadowed by
mass culture, potentially leading to a wider decline in refined taste and societal sophistication.
In academia, the “dumbing-down thesis” refers to the idea that mass culture lowers intellectual and cultural
standards, making society less sophisticated and more superficial.
4. THE SOCIAL MEANING AND ACADEMIC RELEVANCE OF STUDYING MEDIA CULTURE
Elitist exclusion: popular and mass media culture were often ignored or undervalued in academia and high culture.
Shift since the 1970s/1980s: scholars began studying media and popular culture, focusing on:
- Text studies: analyzing media content.
- Audience studies: exploring how individuals and social groups interpret media.
- Key question: what is the cultural meaning of mass media for people and society?
Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (1964-2002):
- Critiqued the idea of the passive audience in behaviorism, psychology (media-effects) and neo-Marxist
theories (culture industry)
- Famous contribution: Stuart Hall’s “Encoding-Decoding Model” (1980), explaining how audiences
interpret media messages differently from producers’ intended meaning.
From mass media to internet, social media and influencers:
Focus on both consumption and production of media culture.
User-Generated Content (UGC): posting, sharing and appropriating content is producing media culture
(= reflecting and spreading values, norms and social practices in a mediatized society)
MEDIA AND IDEOLOGY
Holt, D. (2006) Jack Daniel’s America. Iconic Brands as ideological parasites and proselytizers. Journal of Consumer
Culture, 6(3), pp. 355-377.
Redden, D. (2017) ‘Is Reality TV Neoliberal?’ Television and New Media, 19 (5), pp. 399-414.
1. MEDIA TEXT AND CULTURAL MEANING
Media-content = texts containing cultural narratives that both reflect and shape society.
Media texts can be original, realistic or fictional, but in all cases, they express the values and norms of the society in
which they are created.
Audiences consume, interpret and absorb these texts. Through this process, media texts reproduce and shape the
culture (values and norms) of society.
,Relation between media text and society.
=> rooted in the critical theory, especially the neo-Marxist perspective.
Focus: how media reflects and reproduces social inequality.
In neo-Marxist theory, society is understood as consisting of two layers:
The base (economy):
- The material and economic structures of society, such as production, labor, and ownership of capital.
- The base determines the conditions of everyday life (who works, who owns, who benefits)
The superstructure (culture/ideology):
- Includes culture, ideas, religion, norms, values, law, and politics.
- The superstructure is shaped by the base but also influences how people understand and accept society.
The dominant class uses the superstructure to justify and maintain its power. As a result, people often see
inequality as natural (false consciousness).
=> function of ideology: to hide inequality and exploitation, making society seem fair and stable.
Neo-Marxists such as Louis Althusser (1918–1990) and Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) shifted the focus from the
economy (= “base”) to culture and ideology (=“superstructure”). They examine not only class but also inequalities
like gender and ethnicity. Ideology spreads through institutions, such as schools, journalism, and media, with mass
media playing a key role in shaping and sharing ideas throughout society.
The research agenda focuses on how dominant ideas and inequality appear in different areas, texts, and media. It
also aims to promote equality and support minorities. Examples include studying gender roles, heteronormativity,
race, ethnicity, and the ideas behind neo-liberal capitalism (e.g., Redden, 2017)
2. IDEOLOGY OF (NEO)LIBERALISM
Liberalism = a political ideology promoting a minimal role of the government, a free market and individual
responsibility.
From the 1980s onwards, with leaders like Thatcher and Reagan, and later Clinton and Blair, neo-liberalism became
dominant. This shift meant embracing global capitalism and reducing social care.
What started as a particular political current developed into a hegemonic ideology*, spreading ideas such as:
Capitalism and consumption are good.
The individual is responsible for both success and failure.
People must discipline themselves, both in mind and body.
According to Foucault (in Redden, p. 404), this ideology works as a form of “soft power”: it shapes how people think and
behave, without direct force.
*dominant or leading in a way that feels natural or taken for granted.
2.1.Critics in the social sciences
The Apprentice (2004)
The reality show has been criticized for its explicit celebration of neo-liberalism. The program promotes values such
as self-responsibility, discipline, open competition, and a lack of empathy or solidarity.
, According to Redden, reality TV is inherently neoliberal, since neoliberal logic appears both in the textual features of
the shows (competition, elimination, winners vs. losers) and in the material conditions of production (low costs, high
profits, and individual branding).
Survivor (1992 – …)
The reality show presents neo-liberalism in a disguised, romantic-nostalgic setting. Although participants appear to
work together as a group, the ultimate goal is always individual victory. Success is framed as a matter of personal
performance and self-discipline, while failure marks someone as a “loser.” In this way, the show naturalizes neo-
liberal values: competition, individual responsibility, and the idea that only the strongest deserve to succeed.
The Biggest Loser (2004 – 2020)
The show reflects the neo-liberal ideology of self-responsibility and discipline through the theme of weight loss. From
a neo-liberal perspective, the body is something to be self-optimized:
Fatness signifies lack of control and failure: people are “losers” because they didn’t discipline themselves.
Slimness signifies control, success and achievement: people are “winners” because they worked hard.
=> creates a clear message: fat is for losers, slimness is for winners.
The show links this to the broader neo-liberal idea of individuals as self-responsible, enterprising authors of their
own lives (Redden, 2018). Contestants’ biographical stories reinforce this: they are portrayed as conquering personal
problems through willpower.
Finally, audience applause and media rituals confirm this logic socially, turning personal weight loss into collective
validation. In doing so, The Biggest Loser helps naturalize and normalize a neo-liberal view of the body: health,
slimness, and success are framed as a matter of individual responsibility, discipline, and hard work.
Extreme Make-over (2002 – 2007)
The show portrays plastic surgery as a way for people to become “more themselves.” Surgeons claim that the new
face or body looks “more natural,” while patients say they feel “good” and “authentic.”
From a neo-Marxist perspective, this can be seen as false consciousness: people believe they are freely choosing
surgery, while in fact they are reproducing Western neo-liberal ideals about beauty, health, and identity.
The show helps to naturalize and normalize these ideals, presenting them as “natural,” “healthy,” or even “universal,”
instead of recognizing them as specific cultural and ideological values.
The assumption is that a hegemonic ideology like neo-liberalism spreads through many different media forms and
becomes normalized because it is dominant. We see it not only in reality shows, but also in films, games, series,
social media images, and advertising.
3. ADVERTISING: ICONIC BRANDS AS IDEOLOGICAL PARASITES
Douglas Holt (2006) argues that iconic brands (e.g., Coke, Nike, Apple, Starbucks) do not just sell products, but also
reproduce and reinforce existing hegemonic ideologies and cultural myths. Because these brands are so
omnipresent and repetitive, they spread dominant values and make them feel natural. In this way, brands function as
symbols loaded with cultural meaning. This critique is similar to Naomi Klein’s analysis in No Logo (1999).
