MASS CULTURE; HIGH CLTURE; FOLK CULTURE

MASS CULTURE

- The set of ideas and values that emerge from a shared exposure to the same media, news
sources, music, and art is known as mass culture. Instead of originating from people's day-
to-day interactions, mass culture is broadcast or otherwise distributed to them.
- The scope of mass culture grew dramatically in the 19th and 20th centuries with the rise of
printing and radio. Folklore, which was the cultural basis of traditional local societies, was
replaced by it.
- Cultural products that are both mass-produced and for mass audiences. Examples include
mass-media entertainments—films, television programs, books, newspapers, magazines,
popular music, household items, clothing, and mechanically-reproduced art.
- Mass culture refers to how culture gets produced, whereas popular culture refers to how
culture gets consumed. Mass culture is culture which is mass produced, distributed, and
marketed.

HIGH CULTURE

- High culture is not intended for mass consumption and is not easily accessible to everyone. It
belongs to the social elite of society. Fine arts, theater, opera, and intellectual interests are
all examples of intellectual pursuits. These are connected with the upper socioeconomic
groups and require a higher approach, training, or reflection in order to be appreciated.

- The elements from this  realm rarely make it into popular culture. As a result, high culture is
regarded as sophisticated, whereas popular culture is sometimes regarded as superficial.

FOLK CULTURE

- Folk culture refers to a culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group
living in relative isolation from other groups.
- As a result, folk culture is strongly associated to tradition, historical continuity, a sense of
place, and a sense of belonging. Song and dance, storytelling and mythology, vernacular
architecture, everyday items and clothing, diet, habits, social rules and structures,
agricultural and craft production, religion, and worldviews are all examples.

CONFLICT THEORY; FUNCTIONALIST THEORY; SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM THEORY

FUNCTIONALIST THEORY

- Functionalists view society as a system in which all parts function together to create society
as a whole. In this way, societies need culture to exist. Cultural values guide people in
making choices, whereas cultural norms promote the dynamic operation of society. Culture
exists to address the basic needs of its members, just as members of a society work
together to meet the needs of the society. Culture is also studied in terms of values by
functionalists. Because education is valued in the United States, it is a significant concept.
The emphasis placed on the value of educating a society's members is supported by the
 culture of education, which includes material culture such as classrooms, textbooks,
libraries, and dormitories.

CONFLICT THEORY
- Conflict theorists believe that social structures as unequal because of power inequalities based
on factors such as class, gender, ethnicity, and age. Culture, according to a conflict theorist,
reinforces concerns of "privilege" for some groups depending on race, sex, class, and other
factors. In a male-dominated society, women struggle for equality. Senior citizens battle a
younger generation of lawmakers to protect their rights, health care, and independence.

- Inequalities exist within a culture’s value system. Therefore, a society’s cultural norms benefit
some people but hurt others. Some norms, formal and informal, are practiced at the expense
of others. Example: Same sex marriage; women suffrage; racism

- The impact of economic production and materialism lies at the heart of conflict theory:
dependence on technology in rich nations versus a lack of technology and education in poor
nations. Conflict theorists argue that a society's production system has an impact on its
culture as a whole. People with less power have a difficult time adapting to cultural change.
This viewpoint differs from that of functionalism. For example, in the capitalist society of the
United States, we continue to strive for the American dream, which reinforces the
assumption that the wealthy deserve their privileges.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM THEORY

- Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective that focuses on how people interact with
one another face to face. Interactionists believe that culture is generated and sustained
through people's interactions and how they interpret each other's behaviors.

- This theory's proponents see human interactions as a continuous process of gaining meaning
from both the environment and other people's behaviors. This is when the term "symbolic"
enters the picture. Every item and action has a symbolic meaning, and language is used to
express and communicate these meanings to others. Those who believe in symbolic
interactionism see culture as highly dynamic and fluid, because it is based on how meaning
is understood and how people interact when communicating these meanings.