Cole Frederick Caps blog #5

Cultural Texts

            A cultural text is a popular culture message that is widely disseminated to a specific group of individuals. Cultural texts can be television shows, movies, advertisements, or other messages that our widely dispersed (Martin/Nakayma 2010). These contexts don’t necessarily have to be popular to become “popular culture texts.” Individuals often take in or avoid specific types of cultural texts. For example, some people enjoy certain movies and particular types of books. Many cultural texts target a specific type of audience. The audience for a Sports Illustrated magazine is much different than a Vogue magazine. The problem with many of these cultural texts is that many individuals that aren’t part of the culture in which the text was intended for, often comes away thinking that everything they read or watched is true about the culture in the cultural text. This can lead to stereotyping and misrepresentation of different cultures. For example, an individual that isn’t from the United States may view a show like Desperate Housewives or Two and a Half Men and get the idea that is how all Americans live, when in fact these only represent the quintessential American lifestyles.

            A good cultural text example that connects with intercultural communication would be the stereotypes and misrepresentation of cultures through cultural text. People believe what they see and hear in this day and age. It’s especially common in foreigners who don’t know all that a particular culture has to offer. The first film or book that a foreigner reads about a particular culture may be the thing that comes to their mind every time they think of that culture. A first impression of a particular culture can make a huge difference. When communication between several cultures is taking place this misrepresentation of a culture can lead to massive tension and conflict. Popular culture is a huge part of our culture but it needs to be taken in with the knowledge that not all of it is completely accurate or true.

            I think the big thing I will take away from this is the fact that cultural texts about other cultures may not be portraying exactly what that culture is like. I have found myself walking away from films and books not really taking into consideration that it was only one point of view of that particular culture. I sometimes have that American popular culture bias and only see things from that scope of view. This will help me in my future intercultural interactions because I won’t have a predisposed notion about the individual or group that I am communicating with. I think this will help me to not stereotype specific groups or individuals as much. Just like any other part of intercultural communication, it takes understanding and an open-mind to communicate effectively.

Reference

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5th Edition ed). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.

http://fullmoviesfordownload.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Download-Movies.jpg

http://www.dosomething.org/files/pictures/books-movies.jpg

CAPS#5 Lindy Rauscher

Popular Culture vs. Folk Culture

            Martin and Nakayama make it very clear that popular culture is not the same thing as folk culture (p. 351).  Popular culture “refers to the cultural products that most people share and know about” (Martin and Nakayama, p. 350).  Folk culture is “traditional and nonmainstream cultural activities that are not financially driven” (Martin and Nakayama, p. 352).  Academics have distinguished between these two cultures along financial lines, but there is now some blurring of this division.  Folk culture can become part of popular culture when anyone markets an activity, particular for local tourism purposes.

            George M. Foster explains that folk culture is not a primitive culture that has survived the spread of urban culture (p. 163).  Time is the biggest determinate of folk culture because Foster’s definition of folk culture states “many of their most significant elements have filtered down from the sophisticated world of their own tradition of several centuries earlier” (p. 164).  This suggests that folk culture is tied to the financially elite culture of a society, although from the past.  It was not until the 1960’s that cultural studies included a non-elite culture (Mukerji and Schudson, p. 4).  Mukerji and Schudson explain that folk culture was included in popular cultural studies at this early point for the discipline (p. 4).  It is apparent that academic concepts have diverged in relation to these two subjects.  Perhaps they were initially interconnected because the culture industries were not as well established in the 1960’s.

            It seems that a more complete understanding of a culture incorporates knowledge of both popular and folk culture.  Popular culture is associated with stereotypes (Martin and Nakayama, p. 360), but folk culture does not have this association.  Intercultural communication is influenced by perceptions of culture mediated by popular culture.  If the inherent stereotypes accompanying popular culture are acknowledged, perhaps the communication will focus more on folk culture that actually represents the values of a cultural group.

References

Martin, Judith N. and Nakayama, Thomas K. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts.  5^th Edition. McGraw-Hill.

Foster, George M. (1953). “What is folk culture?” American Anthropologist. Volume 55, Issue 2. Online October 28, 2009.

Mukerji, Chandra and Schudson, Michael. (1991). Rethinking Popular Culture: Contemporary Perspectives in Cultural Studies. University of California Press.

Caps Blog #5

Culture Industries

Jihyun Kim

The root of the popular culture epidemic comes from culture industries. They are industries that produce and sell popular culture as commodities (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). It is these corporations and firms that feed the minds of Americans with what seems socially acceptable. Popular culture is nearly always produced within a capitalist system that sees the products of popular culture as commodities that can be economically profitable (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). The culture industries feed us with information on the latest trends, the hottest music and popular products. The textbook recognizes the Disney Corporation as noteworthy but there are many more that targets specific cultures rather than a wide range of various cultures.

The Hollywood movie industries are also noteworthy such as, Paramount, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, Weinstein Company and many more. Movies and other types of media play a huge role in popular culture. The film industry produces a plethora of movies that targets a variety of different cultures, from children to college students to senior citizens. Since the U.S. is a capitalistic society it allows producers of the culture industries to produce and sell popular culture merchandise such as movies. Not only are we in a capitalistic society but we are also in a competitive market, which makes it more viable for producers to create even more mainstream movies to beat its competition and make profit.

 I personally try to stay away from mainstream movies, or rather mainstream anything. It is clear that there is no stopping in the lines of productions of culture industries; however, it is getting out of control. It surrounds us everyday and everywhere, affecting the way we live and how we view other cultures. The current films the movie industries are producing now a days are not making as much profit as they did 20 years ago. It just shows are America is being influenced and becoming dependent on the popular culture products the culture industry is providing to us.

References:

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5^th Edition ed). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.

CAPS#5 -Weiting Yue

Culture industry

According to Martin & Nakayama (2009), culture industry is “industry that produces and sells popular culture as commodities” (p. 351). They are found that “popular culture is nearly always produced within a capitalist system than sees the products of popular culture as commodities that can be economically profitable” (p.351).

Disney Corporation is a classic example of the culture industry. It includes amusement parks, movies, cartoons, and a plethora of associated merchandise. The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is “a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with four business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products” (Disney.com). Disney has profit-driven goals and recently they developed more products for customers in order to compete with other entertainment companies. But in such industry, Disney is still a leader. They create popular culture and they spread to the world of their ideas and entertainment and the most important, let people become part of it. The real feeling and good memory are unbeatable tools to win the market.

I still remember my experiences in Disney, one was in Hong Kong, and the other is in Los Angles. Although the park sells same products, you feel totally different in these two places. That’s where I found amazing. I went to these two parks with different people, so I have different memories with them.

Reference:

Maritn, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (Fifth ed., pp. 185-187). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.

The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies, (2012), Company Overview, Retrieved from http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/overview.html

Fadhilah Raihan CAPS BLOG#5

Cultural Imperialism

According to Dictionary.Com, cultural imperialism is when a foreign viewpoint or culture is imposed on a group of people. In the other hand, Martin in his book defined it as the domination through the spread of cultural products. Among all cultures, Martin has emphasized on the domination of US culture and how fast it has spread throughout the world. Regardless of Hollywood movies or its music, English spoken movies and songs are being watched and listened worldwide.

Nevertheless, because “English” culture is too common and already has strong English foundation in many countries, I think the best example to illustrate the cultural imperialism is K-Pop. K is referring to Korea. While there is K-Pop in existence, there is also J-Pop, Japanese Pop. Two areas that K-Pop is dominating are music and drama. Although many of you still do not know about this culture, I am firm that this is one of the most widely spread culture at the moment. One of most popular boy band, Super Junior has been making a World Tour including United States. Before I came to United States, I always thought that only Asians are excited with K-Pop but I was strong. Recently I have met a Caucasian American, who has K-pop boy band posters all over her room. It was pretty amusing. What is more, those who are not native Koreans and are crazy with this culture mostly do not understand any single word that the Korean actors or singers are saying. They just fall for it without understanding it. This people include me. However, I would say after spending three years getting myself immersed in so-called K-Pop, I think I can speak and understand some Korean words already. Without realizing it, when I went to Korea last year, I felt so proud of myself when I suddenly realized that I could actually understand what they are saying!



In future, I am still looking forward which culture is going to dominate the world after K-pop. Even J-Pop is unable to make a big hit like K-Pop. Also, I also need to change my perception that Asian culture can only be popular among Asians. Furthermore, I also wish to meet other Americans who like K-Pop. What I want to know from them is that, how they can end up loving K-pop or maybe other cultures. Even if we do not share the same culture, we might end up liking same culture of other people.



Reference:
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5th Edition ed). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.

Caps #5

Popular Culture and Resistance
By Nolan DeBord

    Popular culture can be how some countries define the U.S. as well as criticize us for.  Our text defines popular culture as the cultural products that most people share and know about, including television, music, videos, and popular magazines (Martin/Nakayma 2010).  Being college students I feel that we are in the environment that most displays our dependence as a society on popular culture.
    College and even high school students are often driven to do whatever it takes to maintain an image that is acceptable to society.  You can see this when walking in the Union on campus or downtown Lincoln on a Friday night.  MTV and magazines like Cosmo or Muscle and Fitness have given us an image that we feel we must maintain to stay with the times.  I personally believe that this has not only spread from the millennium generation but also to the older generations as well.  It felt like yesterday that our parents criticized us for phone use and texting along with Facebook.  Not only do both of my parents have Facebook but also have become phone junkies!  Popular culture is on a steady incline that is going to get worse and worse.  The only reason I say worse is because I personally believe that popular culture has a negative impact on our society.
    I try to stay away from popular culture as much as I can.  I want to be my own person and in a lot of ways I think that being different and thinking for yourself is much respected in our society, even more so than converging to popular culture.  It is a matter of whether you are gutsy enough to do so.  This chapter has given me the opportunity to reflect on myself and I am sure others feel the same way.  Popular culture is the definition of the American society and someday may ruin our image to other nations.

Reference:



Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Folk Culture

Folk culture is different from popular culture because it isn't financially driven. Folk culture includes the traditional and nonmainstream cultural activity. Folk culture is normally restricted to the middle class, as it is primarily passed down due to oral traditions. Because of this, many jobs and duties that are outsourced outside of the local community end up not carrying down the oral traditions and folk culture of the native community. One of the main mediums that folk culture exists upon is music, and according to its namesake, folk music.

Folk culture can be used to help explain different socioeconomic classes and their intercultural interactions. It is important to study because many people don't pay attention to popular culture. That makes it difficult to study culture and cultural relations because you are leaving out a large group of people. This difference is very important when studying culture. One of the most prominent areas where folk culture can be seen is within the Native American culture. Much of the Native American music and language is now being passed on only through oral traditions. That has made some scholars speculate that it is going extinct.

When I hear about popular culture, I now understand that it doesn't represent culture that everyone participates in or has available to them. I think that it is important to consider folk culture when thinking about popular culture and intercultural interactions dialectically. It is something that can be seen and creates an impact everyday in intercultural interactions.

References:
Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Lauren Bayne CAPS Blog #5

Media Imperialism

            The United States has gained a lot of power throughout the world through cultural imperialism, and more specifically, media imperialism.  Martin and Nakayama (2009) define media imperialism as “domination or control through media.”  Media has become a cultural product that can be spread through globalization and the remnants of colonialism as a way to exert domination and control.  Media imperialism can be construed as both negative and positive, depending on the attitudes and beliefs of the receiving end, as well as on the nature of information and popular culture being dispersed.  Media imperialism allows the country in power to disperse certain cultural principles or ideologies that may influence people from various cultures around the world.

            The United States usually is the first country that comes to mind when the words “media” and “globalization” are used.  And though it is not the only country using media imperialism, it may be viewed as having the most power and influence.  To combat U.S. media imperialism, France created its own “CNN à la française,” (Martin & Nakayama, 2009) called FRANCE 24, in 2006 (FRANCE 24, 2012).  Its goal is to “cover international current events from a French perspective and to convey French values throughout the world” (FRANCE 24, 2012).  FRANCE 24 (2012) also “aims to make FRANCE24.com the leading video site for international news.”  This statement, in its turn, may very well be interpreted as an attempt to create its own form of media imperialism.  This is an interesting dynamic that seems to be rather ethnocentric in nature. 

            Media imperialism is important to consider when visiting or living in different countries.  We, as Americans, gain our information about other countries and cultures mainly through the perspective of the media in the United States, which is likely to be biased.  Conversely, due to U.S. media imperialism throughout the world, people in different countries have both U.S. cultural products as well as their own.  U.S. popular culture pervades countries and influences the citizens’ perspectives of the United States.  TV shows such as Desperate Housewives or Family Guy can very easily become the basis of others’ perceptions of U.S. culture and may influence intercultural communication between people from the U.S. and those from different countries.

This video may a bit controversial, but this shows have media imperialism can have a negative affect.

References:

 Martin, J. N., & Nakayama T. K. (2009). Intercultural communication in contexts (5^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

FRANCE 24. (2012).  FRANCE 24, international news 24/7.  Retrieved from http://www.france24.com/en/about-france-24.

Jake Wagner CAPS#5 Folk Culture

Folk Culture

Folk Culture is typically defined as traditional modes of behavior and expression that are transmitted from generation to generation among a group or people. (Education) I find that this can be easily related to traditions.  Folk music is a prime example of folk culture in society. 

Folk music is not typically what you would find playing on the radio. It’s a type and style of music that is handed down throughout generations, with a sound unique to itself. Traditional folk music has no known composers, as its artist has usually been forgotten as the music is passed down throughout ages. The development of folk music can rely heavily on cultural experiences. Styles of folk music will vary greatly based on regions. An interesting contrast of African folk music and Russian folk music is demonstrated in the following videos. 

African folk song

 

Russian Folk Song

 

By examining folk music for particular regions and subcultures we can better understand a certain cultural group. Folk music can often express cultural history or beliefs. In order to overcome stereotypes and misconceptions about a cultural group it is beneficial to examine the subtexts that make up that group. I believe that without financially driven motives folk culture is a very accurate and true representation of culture. When exploring or attempting to connect with cultural groups I will pay more attention to the aspects of its folk culture. 

Education. (n.d.). Folk Culture. Retrieved March 28th, 2012, from www.education.com: www.education.com/definition/folk-culture/

 Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Amanda Wesely- CAPS Post 5

High Culture

High culture is the cultural activities that the highest social class participates in. These activities differ from popular culture because more isolated and atypical. Also, high culture has limited access from individuals of lower class standings. The high culture activities can sometimes require networking or financing the lower classes cannot acquire. For example, some dance clubs have a list of the elite that are allowed inside and all of the low culture individuals are sent away. The costs of ballets and expensive restaurants restrict the activities to people of higher financial income. Some other examples in the book include: ballet, symphony, opera, literature, and fine art. 

The restrictiveness of the high culture can be seen in the fine art society. Fine Art is something many can appreciate, but only the elite can participate in. Fine Art Gallery openings are usual invite only, meaning low culture individuals with limited connections will probably not be in attendance. Fine Art Gallery collecting is an expensive hobby. Pieces of art collections can be worth millions of dollars. Below is a video showing the auctioning of Warhol’s Campbell's Soup Can. 

 

 

To be a true Fine Art collector is to be a part of the High Culture. The activity requires time, money and education- these factors combined are usually associated with the elite class. Below is advice Forbes gives on how to be an art collector if you are not a billionaire. The article shows the difficulty, but also the possibility, of becoming an art collector from a lower class standing.

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/kerenblankfeld/2011/11/07/not-a-billionaire-you-can-still-be-an-art-collector/

High Culture has always been a bit of the greener grass many middle class strive for. I got excited for tickets to the New York City Ballet because I could dress up and be a part of a culture I normally was not a part of. I would consider myself more of a folk culture; however I will not deny my popular culture tendencies. High culture consists of the one percent, and the one percent is always interesting for everyone else. The show ‘cribs’ walked us through the enormous homes of the elite. The show ‘my sweet sixteen’ showed us how the elite high school girls celebrate their birthdays. I think high culture is the culture of the elite, which many will strive for but few will truly ever experience.

 

References:

http://artinvestment.ru/content/download/articles/20090418_andy_warhol_double_marlon.jpg

Beverly Hillbillies Opening. (2011, February). Retrieved March 2012, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnXfRstZntE

Not A Billionaire? You Can Still Be An Art Collector. (2011). Retrieved March 2012, from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kerenblankfeld/2011/11/07/not-a-billionaire-you-can-still-be-an-art-collector/

Warhol's Double Marlon Sold For $32.5 Million At Christie's . (2008). Retrieved March 2012, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY2qVA0tFiI&feature=related

Martin, J., & Nakayama, T. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York: McGraw Hill.