Cultural Studies- An Introduction

Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that combines theories from other branches of knowledge like Media Studies, Politics, Economics, Film Studies, Literary Theory, etc.  Purely, Cultural Studies is an academic study that originated from Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, UK.  Major contributors of the cultural studies are the  following:

• Raymond Williams.
• Richard Hoggart.
• Stuart Hall
• Tony Bennett.

Cultural studies emphasizes mass culture or popular culture and everyday life.  In other words, instead of concentrating on elite culture, Cultural Studies looks at mass culture and changing beliefs, ideas, feelings, and values of the social life.  Popular culture is the culture of the majority or the culture of masses who are considered inferior to elite culture.  Elite culture is a culture that is attributed to aristocracy, commercial bourgeois, educated bureaucrats, and politically powered people, who produce and control meaning.

In other words, a prominent concern of cultural studies is to subvert the distinction between 'high art' or 'high literature' and low forms of art and literature which appeal large body of readers and consumers. Cultural Studies gives little attention to established or approved literary works and literary canons,  instead, they pay more attention to popular fictions, best-selling romances, advertising, and comic cartoons which get the least attention from the part of critics and media. The elite culture was always considered as superior and standard of judgment. Certain writers like Williams Shakespeare and William Wordsworth are usually gifted with more critical attention and respectability than the writers like Sidney Sheldon and Agatha Christie who possess a mass audience or readers in the society.

Cultural Studies believes that culture is a combination of socioeconomic, spatial,  ideological, erotic, and political factors.  It is not a natural thing, that can be produced, marketed, and consumed by society.

Cultural Studies talks about power relations and meaning.  They argue that meanings are controlled or determined by power relations.  Elite people control meaning because they possess power. The non-elite views of life and art are rejected and considered as tasteless and useless. Elite literature, Elite film, elite art, and elite way of life are considered as true and standard of judgement. 

Origin of Cultural Studies.

Cultural studies is an academic field and originate in Birmingham Centre for contemporary cultural studies, UK  and first appeared in the work of critics like Raymond Williams and Richard Hoggart.  The growth of cultural studies took place as a result of the changes that happen in Western society especially among the youth in the 1960s.  After the turmoil of the Second World War, most of the countries were came back to a prosperous and peaceful life. People got more leisure time for watching television and music.  It brings an opportunity to know about the culture and life of subordinated people like African Americans, colonized, blacks, women, and labourers, those who belong to the majority of the population.   Therefore the interest of some sociologists, anthropologists, and historians was attracted to the life and culture of those people. This is one of the reasons that lead to the origin of Cultural Studies. 

Apart from that, the 1970s  was the time of social movements like the feminist, labour, and anti-racist movement.  This also boosts the growth of Cultural Studies as many scholars turn their attention to their problems. These are some of the circumstances that led to the origin and development of Cultural studies.

RELATED LINKS:

Postmodernity