popular culture
popular culture Culture is the central concept of anthropology, and denotes all the knowledge, technologies, values, beliefs, customs, and behaviours common to people. While simple societies may have only a single integrated culture that is shared by everyone, complex societies can accommodate many layers and levels of
cultures and
subcultures.
One important distinction is between popular culture and what is usually called high culture. The latter includes things like classical music, serious novels, poetry, dance, high art, and other cultural products which are usually appreciated by only a relatively small number of educated people. Popular culture, sometimes also called mass culture, is far more widespread and accessible to everyone. The main business of popular culture is entertainment and, in Europe and the United States (for example), it is dominated by sports, television, films, and recorded popular music.
Traditionalists from Wordsworth on have lamented the poor quality of popular culture. Liberal and radical critics have been more inclined to support the popular as an authentic expression of public taste, and to dismiss the remote products of high culture as élitist. Sociologists have become involved in the analysis of popular culture because it provides a window into public consciousness, and is an important element of solidarity within social classes and of division between them.
Conflict theorists focus on the production of popular culture by large, capitalist
corporations, and suggest that the product may be not only inauthentic but also an instrument of ideological
domination.
Studies of popular culture overlap with those of subcultures,
youth cultures,
ideology,
leisure, and the
mass media. Ian Chambers ,
Popular Culture (1986)
and Tony Bennett
et al. ,
Popular Culture and Social Relations (1986)
, indicate the range of topics which can be subsumed under this general heading. See also
CULTURAL STUDIES.
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WHY SICILY IS LURING AMERICANS SOME HAVE FAMILY TIES, AND ALL LOVE THE BEAUTY AND THE PEOPLE
Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe; 1/4/1998; ; 700+ words
; PALERMO, Sicily -- An increasing number of American tourists are being lured to Sicily by its archeological and religious shrines, beautiful...for them. Other visitors are Americans born in Sicily who go back to visit relatives left behind. Typical...
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A world on an island: "without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything." .
Magazine article from: House Beautiful; 12/1/2002; 700+ words
; ...where visitors have always felt at home. It is a place where all worlds converge. It is Sicily. "Without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything," wrote Johann Wolfgang Goethe in Italian Journey, 1786...
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A world on an island: "without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything." (Here Is Sicily).
Magazine article from: Esquire; 12/1/2002; 700+ words
; ...where visitors have always felt at home. It is a place where all worlds converge. It is Sicily. "Without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything," wrote Johann Wolfgang Goethe in Italian Journey, 1786...
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A world on an island: "without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything". (Here is Sicily).(Sicily)
Magazine article from: Marie Claire; 12/1/2002; 700+ words
; ...where visitors have always felt at home. It is a place where all worlds converge. It is Sicily. "Without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything," wrote Johann Wolfgang Goethe in Italian Journey, 1786...
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A world on an Island. (Here is Sicily).
Magazine article from: Harper's Bazaar; 12/1/2002; 700+ words
; ...where visitors have always felt at home. It is a place where all worlds converge. It is Sicily. "Without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything," wrote Johann Wolfgang Goethe in Italian Journey, 1786...
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SICILY: The Essence of the Mediterranean
Newspaper article from: Italian Voice, The; 4/21/1994; ; 700+ words
; ...Cuomo Italian Voice, The 04-21-1994 SICILY: The Essence of the Mediterranean. The heady of Sicily is a blend of ancient culture,zestful...of three thousand years of history. In Sicily you can drink deeply of the elements of...
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Genetic history of the population of Sicily
Magazine article from: Human Biology; 8/1/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...2354 individuals from the 9 provinces of Sicily. The genetic markers we used were HP...no clear geographic clustering within Sicily. The genetic distance matrix used for...frequency variation; this implies that Sicily is effectively one panmictic unit. The...
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Passport to Italy: Touring Ancient Sicily
Magazine article from: Italian America; 1/1/2008; ; 700+ words
; "Without Sicily, Italy leaves no image in the soul. Sicily is the key to everything. - Johann Wolfgang Goethe For the past 3,000 years, Sicily has hosted many of the world's greatest civilizations...
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Interest in Sicily, especially food, sizzles.(E)(Travel)
Newspaper article from: The Washington Times; 11/17/2001; ; 700+ words
; Byline: Ann Geracimos ALCAMO, Sicily - Sicily is hot - and not just because of the temperature, which soars...intertwines Mrs. Simeti's personal experiences and reflections on Sicily's cultural traditions, of which food is just a part. Her...
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Sicily's charm, history locked out of `House'
Newspaper article from: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; 9/12/1999; ; 700+ words
; A House in Sicily. By Daphne Phelps. Carroll & Graf...Phelps reminds her readers in "A House in Sicily," have a fascination all their own...only too well what impact an island like Sicily can have on a person. As she explains...
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Sicily
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Sicily , Ital. Sicilia, region (1991 pop. 4...Italy, mainly situated on the island of Sicily, which is bounded by the Mediterranean...Ustica island. Palermo is the capital of Sicily, which is divided into the provinces of...
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Sicily, Invasion of
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to American Military History
Sicily, Invasion of (1943).The invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943, a combined American and British operation...invasion armada, consisting of 2,500 ships sailing to Sicily from North Africa, Britain, and the United States, was...
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John of Sicily
Dictionary entry from: Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
John of Sicily ( fl. France, second half of the 13th...astronomy . Nothing is known of John of Sicily ’ s life except that he was...of each chapter of the canons, John of Sicily very methodically summarizes its purpose...
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World War II: Allied Invasion of Sicily and "The Man Who Never Was"
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security
World War II: Allied Invasion of Sicily and "The Man Who Never Was" █...German defenses on the Italian island of Sicily. However, rough terrain and solid German...command expected the Allies to attack Sicily, Allied intelligence was charged with...
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King Robert of Sicily
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology
King Robert of Sicily English romance of unknown authorship, written during the fourteenth century. It tells the story of King Robert of Sicily, who was beguiled by pride into sneering at a priest saying mass. An angel is sent by God to punish...
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