Publication details
Modely populární kultury
| Title in English | Models of Popular Culture |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Proudy. Středoevropský časopis pro vědu a literaturu |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | Webová adresa studie |
| Keywords | theoretical model; popular culture |
| Description | This article systematically reviews theoretical models used in conceptualising popular culture in the humanities. The author analyses different types of visualisation models that help to understand the complex relationships between popular culture, high art and popular culture, and identifies four main types of models: dichotomous models based on the traditional division between "high" and "mass" culture (Adorno, Arnold), which he criticises for their closedness and inability to capture the interpenetration of cultural categories; linear and cyclical models based on the work of Ray B. Browne, who places popular culture at the center of a horizontal continuum between elite and popular culture; three-dimensional models inspired by Giddens' structuration theory, distinguishing three interacting dimensions (artifacts, users, and contexts); and the most recent fractal networks represented by Mirzoeff, who understands culture as a fractal network with infinite complexity. The author also points out an essential methodological limitation: all attempts to define popular culture are inevitably influenced by the theoretical framework from which they are based, and thus no definition is universally valid. This article provides an overview of the evolution of theoretical thinking about popular culture from the nineteenth century to the present. It presents a theoretical valuable synthesis to students and researchers in cultural studies, media theory, and aesthetics. |
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