Popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art or mass art)[1][2] and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a society at a given point in time. Popular culture also encompasses the activities and feelings produced as a result of interaction with these dominant objects. The primary driving forces behind popular culture, especially when speaking of Western popular cultures, are the media, mass appeal, marketing and capitalism; and it is produced by what philosopher Theodor Adorno refers to as the "culture industry".[3]
Not to be confused with Pop Culture (song).Heavily influenced in modern times by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of people in a given society. Therefore, popular culture has a way of influencing an individual's attitudes towards certain topics.[4] However, there are various ways to define pop culture.[5] Because of this, popular culture is something that can be defined in a variety of conflicting ways by different people across different contexts.[6] It is generally viewed in contrast to other forms of culture such as folk culture, working-class culture, or high culture, and also from different academic perspectives such as psychoanalysis, structuralism, postmodernism, and more. The common pop-culture categories are entertainment (such as film, music, television, literature and video games), sports, news (as in people/places in the news), politics, fashion, technology, and slang.[7]
Japanese popular culture[edit]
Though the English-speaking countries are known for popular culture other places also were involved with the advancements in popular culture. In Japan, While Kabuki Theater was accessible to all classes of Japanese people, Europe’s aristocrats initially regarded it as high art (Wertz 2). Kabuki theater is a rich blend of music, dance, mime, and spectacular staging and costuming, it has been a major theatrical form in Japan for four centuries (britannica 1). Kabuki started in the 17th century by a woman named Okuni [2)]. Though the plays are supposed to show off the skills of the actors and to entertain the audience there is also a message that is said with the plays being a religious calling due to this there are often religious ideas influenced in the plays(britannica 4). During present time there was a closing in 2010 but then it was reopened in 2013 and has continued these plays but there are many other theaters that are more popular and overlap them(Britannica 2).
