Reference No: KLL-FO-ACAD-000 | Effectivity Date: August 3, 2020 | Revisions No.

: 00

VISION MISSION
A center of human development committed to the pursuit of wisdom, truth, Establish and maintain an academic environment promoting the pursuit of
justice, pride, dignity, and local/global competitiveness via a quality but excellence and the total development of its students as human beings, with fear
affordable education for all qualified clients. of God and love of country and fellowmen.

GOALS
Kolehiyo ng Lungsod ng Lipa aims to:
1. foster the spiritual, intellectual, social, moral, and creative life of its client via affordable but quality tertiary education;
2. provide the clients with reach and substantial, relevant, wide range of academic disciplines, expose them to varied curricular and co-curricular experiences
which nurture and enhance their personal dedications and commitments to social, moral, cultural, and economic transformations.
3. work with the government and the community and the pursuit of achieving national developmental goals; and
4. develop deserving and qualified clients with different skills of life existence and prepare them for local and global competitiveness

LESSON 1
Second Semester, AY 2022-2023

I. COURSE CODE /TITLE: GEE 103 PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURE

II. SUBJECT MATTER

SUBJECT MATTER Time -Frame

Orientation and discussion of syllabus 1.5 hours
1. Introduction of Philippine Popular Culture 3 hours

III. COURSE OUTCOMES

A. Define the concepts of “culture”, “popular” and “popular culture.”
B. Identify the different categories of popular Culture.
C. Discuss the relationship between media and popular culture.

IV. INTRODUCTION
Popular culture is something that is always most importantly related to everyday average people and their
experiences of the world. It is a culture meant for general population and that is intended for their tastes and
understanding rather than a select few. This word popular describes a type of culture that is related to the general
public and intended or suited to the taste rather than specialists or intellectuals.
Culture is a term that is used in all sorts of different studies from anthropology to sociology and history. Culture is
a way that people are grouped together based on their common behaviors, beliefs and structures. The culture that
you were born into has a lot of influences on your beliefs and things that you looked forward to throughout your
life.
Often a person’s culture is determined by their geographical region. However, there’s a wide variation of
culture within a geographical region so that culture can be broken down into even smaller groups that are connected
by their social lives and outlook on the world. When you put these two words together you get popular culture, a
culture that is intended to represent the common and everyday experiences of people.
In many ways, popular culture is the Polaroid snapshot on Facebook photo page that documents our lives
in the social world. It is a backdrop of day-to-day life and its power is both diffuse( verbose ) and indisputable (
unquestionable )

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 Youth today navigate a range of popular culture and media, there is no age group isn’t deeply connected
with popular culture; even the youngest babies watch television and play with toys that are licensed products of film
companies and even the oldest of our citizens watch television and read magazines We’re using popular culture to
consume information that we use to guide our lives and we use popular culture to express those lives and what we
wish people to know about us.
In studying popular culture, there are few things that you need to keep in mind: 1.Everything
matters. Popular culture focuses on artifacts that may sometimes be called trivial
( unimportant ) or simply entertainment but when studying pop culture those kinds of distinction aren’t our
main concern.
2. Everything changes. What was once considered popular is now often considered high culture.

3. Power behind the scenes. The artifacts of popular culture often ultimately show you what the most
powerful forces in your lives are, often these are forces that you have no control over and are largely strangers.
4. Popular culture is a business. Popular culture is often concerned with products and economics. Most
artifacts of popular culture are trying to sell themselves through advertising and social media.
As we go along with the discussion in this semester, there are things that you need to consider in studying
popular culture :
1. Keep an open mind
2. Try to think about the big picture
3. Focus on what the central idea is
4. Think about how well the idea is presented
5. Connect to your own life
6. Don’t demand scientific proof.
V. ENGAGEMENT
DIRECTIONS: A. Watch a video on Introduction to Philippine Popular Culture by Metamorphosis
using this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzpH8pXYQZM

VI. ACTIVITY 1
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions about popular culture as fully and precisely as you can. You may use
the learnings you have gotten from the video and attached lesson.

1. Define the concepts of culture, popular and popular culture.

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2. Why is it important to study Philippine popular culture?

3. What does popular culture teach?

4. How is popular culture affecting society?

5. How can a particular culture become popular?

6. What are the things that you need to consider and keep in mind about popular culture?

7. Differentiate folk culture from high culture and popular culture?

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APPLICATION
DIRECTIONS: Provide two (2) to three (3) examples for each form/ category of popular culture in the Philippines.

Popular Music

Television series local/foreign

Sports

Film/Movie local/foreign

Advertisement

Print Culture

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Fashion

Magazines

Food Trips

Politics

Radio Culture

Online Popular Culture

Comic Book

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 Popular Language

Toys/Games

VIII.OUTPUT (RESULT)

DIRECTIONS: In a short bond paper, use old magazines and catalogues or technology to create a collage that
shows your pop culture identity. These might be things you are passionate about.
Explain your work. Submit your output after class.

VIII. EVALUATION

The collage will be evaluated using the following criteria

Originality15 pts
Organization15 pts
Relevance20 pts
Total50 pts

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LESSON 1 ATTACHMENT

Pop Culture: An Overview

Before we delve in the discussion of what popular culture really is, let us define the basic concepts of this
course first. Popular is defined as suitable to the means, taste or favour of the majority; commonly
liked or approved; and/or frequently encountered or widely accepted. Culture is the constant process
of producing meanings out of and from our social experience. It is also defined as shared meaning which
produces a social identity. It is the general process of intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic
development. It is a particular way of life, whether of people, a period, or a group.

Therefore, popular culture is the culture widely favoured or liked by others. Yet, that is only
one of the many definitions given by Reynold Williams, a theorist and critic on topics relevant to culture.
Another definition is that popular culture is a ‘work deliberately setting out to win the favour with the
people’ which professes the idea that it has a quantitative dimension. Which book or CD has the
highest sales or which concert has the most number of sold tickets determine whether a certain form of culture is
approved by many.
In this modern times, another determinant would be the number of likes, shares, reacts, views,
downloads, or tweets leads an individual to believe that a particular form of culture is popular. It is quite
noticeable how when watching soap operas, a hashtag is seen posted in the corner of the television.
Hashtags are labels that allow an individual to easily track, find or filter a specific content they are searching for or a
theme they find interesting. Viewers of a specific show are encouraged to use the hashtag as they share their views
online, thus, these allow advertisers to identify their target audience and scout for a particular program to promote
the products and services which in turn, finance the television shows.
Sociological Definition of Popular Culture
Popular culture (or "pop culture") refers in general to the traditions and material culture of a particular
society. In the modern West, pop culture refers to cultural products such as music, art, literature, fashion, dance, film,
cyberculture, television, and radio that are consumed by the majority of a society's population. Popular culture is
those types of media that have mass accessibility and appeal.
The term "popular culture" was coined in the mid-19th century, and it referred to the cultural traditions of
the people, in contrast to the "official culture" of the state or governing classes. In broad use today, it is defined in
qualitative terms—pop culture is often considered a more superficial or lesser type of artistic expression.
The Rise of Popular Culture
Scholars trace the origins of the rise of popular culture to the creation of the middle class generated by the
Industrial Revolution. People who were configured into working classes and moved into urban environments far
from their traditional farming life began creating their own culture to share with their co-workers, as a part of
separating from their parents and bosses.

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 After the end of World War II, innovations in mass media led to significant cultural and social changes in
the west. At the same time, capitalism, specifically the need to generate profits, took on the role of marketing: newly
invented goods were being marketed to different classes. The meaning of popular culture then began to merge with
that of mass culture, consumer culture, image culture, media culture, and culture created by manufacturers for mass
consumption.
Different Definitions of Popular Culture
In his wildly successful textbook "Cultural Theory and Popular Culture" (now in its 8th edition),
British media specialist John Storey offers six different definitions of popular culture.
1. Popular culture is simply culture that is widely favored or well-liked by many people: it has no
negative connotations.
2. Popular culture is whatever is left after you've identified what "high culture" is: in this definition,
pop culture is considered inferior, and it functions as a marker of status and class.
3. Pop culture can be defined as commercial objects that are produced for mass consumption by non-
discriminating consumers. In this definition, popular culture is a tool used by the elites to suppress or
take advantage of the masses.
4. Popular culture is folk culture, something that arises from the people rather than imposed upon them: pop
culture is authentic (created by the people) as opposed to commercial (thrust upon them by commercial
enterprises).
5. Pop culture is negotiated: partly imposed on by the dominant classes, and partly resisted or changed
by the subordinate classes. Dominants can create culture but the subordinates decide what they keep
or discard.
6. The last definition of pop culture discussed by Storey is that in the postmodern world, in today's world,
the distinction between "authentic" versus "commercial" is blurred. In pop culture today, users are
free to embrace some manufactured content, alter it for their own use, or reject it entirely and create their
own.
Popular Culture: You Make the Meaning
All six of Storey's definitions are still in use, but they seem to change depending on the context.
Since the turn of the 21st century, mass media—the way pop culture is delivered—has changed so dramatically
that scholars are finding it difficult to establish how they function. As recently as 2000, "mass media" meant only
print (newspapers and books), broadcast (televisions and radio), and cinema (movies and documentaries). Today, it
embraces an enormous variety of social media and forms.
To a large degree, popular culture is today something established by niche users. What is "mass
communication" moving forward? Commercial products such as music are considered popular even when the
audience is tiny, in comparison to such pop icons as Britney Spears and Michael Jackson. The presence of social
media means consumers can speak directly to producers—and are producers themselves, turning the concept of pop
culture on its head.

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 So, in a sense, popular culture has gone back to its simplest meaning: It is what a lot of people
like.
Examples of Popular Culture

Examples of popular culture come from a wide array of genres, including popular music, print, cyber
culture, sports, entertainment, leisure, fads, advertising and television. Sports and television are arguably two of
the most widely consumed examples of pop

Sports are played and watched by members of all social classes, but (tautologously) the masses are
responsible for the huge popularity of sports. Some sporting events, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, are
consumed by a world community. Sports are pervasive in most societies and represent a major part of many
people’s lives. Showing allegiance to a team as a means of self-identification is a common behavior. Further,
cheering for a sports team or a favorite athlete is a way any individual can become part of popular culture, as I and
Tim Madigan explain in our new book The Sociology of Sport.
Many people watch numerous hours of television everyday. It is such a prevalent aspect of contemporary
culture it is difficult to imagine life without it. There are those who believe TV is responsible for the dumbing down
of society; that children watch too much television; and that the couch potato syndrome has contributed to the
epidemic of childhood obesity.

Folk and High Culture

Popular culture is usually distinguished from folk and high culture. In some ways, folk culture is similar
to pop culture because of the mass participation involved. Folk culture, however, represents the traditional
way of doing things. Consequently, it is not as amendable to change and is much more static than popular
culture.

Folk culture represents a simpler lifestyle, that is generally conservative, largely self-sufficient, and
often characteristic of rural life. Radical innovation is generally discouraged. Group members are expected to
conform to traditional modes of behavior adopted by the community. Folk culture is local in orientation, and
non-commercial. In short, folk culture promises stability, whereas popular culture is generally looking for
something new or fresh. Because of this, popular culture often represents an intrusion and a challenge to folk
culture. Conversely, folk culture rarely intrudes upon popular culture.
There are times when certain elements of folk culture (eg Turkish rugs, Mexican blankets and Irish fairy tales)
find their way into the world of pop culture. Generally, when items of folk culture are appropriated and marketed
by the popular culture, the folk items gradually lose their original form.

A key characteristic of popular culture is its accessibility to the masses. It is, after all, the culture
of the people. High culture, on the other hand, belongs to the social elite; the fine arts, opera, theatre,
and high intellectualism are associated with the upper socioeconomic classes. Items of high culture
often require extensive experience, training, or reflection to be appreciated. Such items seldom cross over to the pop
culture domain. Consequently, popular culture is generally looked (down) upon as being superficial when compared
to the sophistication of high culture. (This does not mean that social elites do not participate in popular culture or
that members of the masses do not participate in high culture.)

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The Formation of Popular Culture

Through most of human history, the masses were influenced by dogmatic forms of rule and traditions
dictated by local folk culture. Most people were spread throughout small cities and rural areas – conditions that
were not conducive to a ‘popular’ culture. With the beginning of the Industrial era (late eighteenth century), the
rural masses began to migrate to cities, leading to the urbanization of most Western societies.

Urbanization is a key ingredient in the formation of popular culture. People who once lived in
homogeneous small villages or farms found themselves in crowded cities marked by great cultural diversity. These
diverse people would come to see themselves as a ‘collectivity’ as a result of common, or popular, forms of
expression. Thus, many scholars trace the beginning of the popular culture phenomenon to the rise of the middle
class brought on by the Industrial Revolution.

Industrialization also brought with it mass production; developments in transportation; advancements in

building technology; increased literacy; improvements in education and public health; and the emergence of efficient
forms of commercial printing, representing the first step in the formation of a mass media (eg the penny press,
magazines, and pamphlets). All of these factors contributed to the blossoming of popular culture. By the start of the
twentieth century, the print industry mass-produced illustrated newspapers and periodicals, as well as serialized
novels and detective stories. Newspapers served as the best source of information for a public with a growing
interest in social and economic affairs. The ideas expressed in print provided a starting point for popular discourse
on all sorts of topics. Fueled by further technological growth, popular culture was greatly impacted by the emerging
forms of mass media throughout the twentieth century. Films, broadcast radio and television all had a profound
influence on culture.

So urbanization, industrialization, the mass media and the continuous growth in technology
since the late 1700s, have all been significant factors in the formation of popular culture. These continue to
be factors shaping pop culture today.

Sources of Popular Culture

There are numerous sources of popular culture. As implied above, a primary source is the mass media,
especially popular music, film, television, radio, video games, books and the internet. In addition,
advances in communication allows for the greater transmission of ideas by word of mouth, especially
via cell phones. Many TV programs, such as American Idol and the Last Comic
Standing, provide viewers with a phone number so that they can vote for a contestant. This combining of pop
culture sources represents a novel way of increasing public interest, and further fuels the mass production of
commodities.

Popular culture is also influenced by professional entities that provide the public with information.
These sources include the news media, scientific and scholarly publications, and ‘expert’ opinion from
people considered an authority in their field. For example, a news station reporting on a specific topic, say
the effects of playing violent video games, will seek a noted psychologist or sociologist who has published in this
area. This strategy is a useful way of influencing the public and may shape their collective opinions on a particular
subject. At the very least, it provides a starting point for public discourse and differing opinions. News stations often
allow viewers to call or email in their opinions, which may be shared with the public.

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 A seemingly contradictory source of popular culture is individualism. Urban culture has not only provided a
common ground for the masses, it has inspired ideals of individualistic aspirations. In the United States, a society
formed on the premise of individual rights, there are theoretically no limitations to what an individual might
accomplish. An individual may choose to participate in all that is ‘popular’ for popularity’s sake; or they may
choose a course of action off the beaten track. At times, these ‘pathfinders’ affect popular culture by their
individuality. Of course, once a unique style becomes adopted by others, it ceases to remain unique. It becomes,
popular.

Why It's Important to Study Pop Culture

Studying pop culture reveals the underlying assumptions, power structures, and philosophical and moral
constructs of the society that produces those cultural products. In other words, it reveals “culture” in a different
sense.

Studying pop culture gives us an accessible vehicle through which to explore philosophical and moral
questions, as well as the functioning of society on a smaller scale (e.g. fandom, consumption), through which we
can make larger assumptions.

Impact of Pop Culture on Society

With the advent of social media, it has become easier to disseminate culture across the globe
transforming the world into one global society. This has also seen the penetration of pop culture into various
aspects of society.
Pop culture affects society in many ways. The first and most rudimentary effect of pop culture is how it
builds and strengthens interactions with people who are also into the same kind of things .Pop culture acts as a
unifying agent for youth across the globe.
On a more personal level, pop culture helps people grow and be more accepting considering the vast amount
of representation throughout the various genres in pop cultures.
Not least, the influence of pop culture as tools of protest can be seen in reference signs in various protest
marches and these are the signs that go. Also, pop culture has evolved into a tool for propagating dissent and
bringing to light various social issues that run rampant but are ignored. Even though it is said that “These things are
made for kids”, they are rife with social and moral messages. It is largely attributed to pop culture that the present
generation is more accepting and dynamic and vocal about injustice and issues that plague the society.
The youth is more attuned with social media which in today’s age is the most powerful tool in disseminating
culture in general. Pop culture gives the youth a lot many avenues to explore. It helps people express their identity
better. For someone who may experience difficulty in figuring out their own identity, can express themselves in
terms of a character or icon they relate to. Social media and blogs are full of people who have spoken about pop
culture icons and characters helping them accept themselves and come out of the closet. Even to spread awareness,
pop culture icons are used so as to be more relatable and fun to the youth and children. For example, for child cancer
awareness week, cartoon characters were use

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 However, we cannot just push away the fact that pop culture has negative influences as well. The depiction
of violence, blood and gore can have serious psychological repercussions especially on young children. Some
people can get so immersed into the fictional universes that it becomes difficult for them to distinguish between
what is real and what is not. It can also be heavily distracting for people.
It is undeniable that pop culture has gone a long way in making the concept of “ global society” a reality by
giving people across the world a common subject to talk about. Who among the internet community heavily into pop
culture can say that they have not made even a single friend overseas through fan accounts and chat rooms? Pop
culture keeps changing from generation to generation and has a pronounced effect on the youth.

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzpH8pXYQZM

youtube.com/watch?v=6-8u9m4oYBQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_culture

https://medium.com/@thenewswell/impact-of-pop-culture-on-society-fde92ae986f0

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140727233003-19409547-why-it-s-important-to-study-pop-culture Prepared By :

FORTUNATA ANGELINA M. ENDAYA,Ph.D.

Associate Professor I

Recommending Approval :

MARIA THERESA S. RAÑA, LPT

Dean, College of Communication Arts

Noted By:

AQUILINO D. ARELLANO, Ph.D., Ed.D.

Vice President for Academic Affairs

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