LET’S TALK ABOUT

Philippine Popular
Culture
John Fiske
Commodities and
Culture:
John Fiske
(Understanding
Popular Culture)
 Culture
another word for “ the way of life” of
groups of people, meaning the way they do
things; different groups may have different cultures.

Examples:
Common set of Values
Beliefs
Festivals
Languange
Rituals and Ceremonies
Commodity
In a word define as raw material
or product, but in culture
commodities is defined as the
concept use to denote a process
where aspects of a particular
culture are packaged and
available for tourists to purchase.
Ex.
Traditional houses of the residents that deliberately renovated
to become a home stay then offered to tourists.
 UNDERSTANDING
POPULAR CULTURE
JOHN FISKE (AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER AND
HISTORIAN)
 Themes
Formations of People Commodities of Culture

Everyday Life and

Two economies of Televisions Popular Culture
 Formations of People

Culture is a living, active process, it can be developed only from within,

it cannot be imposed from without original above.

-Popular culture is made by the people

- "The people" is not a stable sociological category; it cannot be
identified and subjected to empirical study, for it does not exist in
objective reality.
 COMMODITIES IN
CULTURE

Two Economies of Televisions

Consumer Society
Production Studio
 Consumer Society

- We need to extend the idea of an economy to include a cultural economic

where the circulation is not one of money, but of meanings and pleasures.

- Here the audience, from being a commodity, now becomes a producer, a

producer of meanings and pleasures within the capitalist society.

 Production Studio

The production studios produce a commodity, a program and sell it to the

distributors, the broadcasting or cable networks, for profit.
- Simple financial exchange common to all commodities.
- The economic function of a television program is not complete once it has
been sold, for in its moment of consumption it changes to become a producer,
and what it produces is an audience, which is then sold to advertisers.
 Television and Advertising
- The audience is known as the mode of production, they are the
producers of popular culture, such as television programs and
advertisements (commercials).

Ex.

Different advertisements of products are aired during commercials

becauset hey are set up by the cultural industries from the television
programs that the audiences consume, while watching certain television
programs that are found interesting by the viewers.
 Examples of Cancelled Television Programs:

— Turn On (1969) - Comedy series, the show alarmed broadcast

officials and sponsors who immediately perceived the show as
offensive due to its strong sexual and political humor.

-Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos (1992) - TITLE SAYS IT ALL.

— Proving Ground (2011) - Popular science reality show, which stunts

from video games, films and comic books are tested in the real world.

“All commodities of capitalism are goods to speak with”

—John Fiske
EVERYDAY LIFE

John Fiske
The basis of the 'theory of everyday life is not the product,

the system the system that distributes them or the consumer

information but the concrete specific uses they are put to,

the individual acts of consumption - production, the

creativities produced commodities.

Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas
 -In “The Ruling Class and the Ruling Ideas “(1970), Marx and Engels
argue that the prevailing ideas of a particular society are formed by
the ruling class to express and justify their position. This contrasts the
view that ideas and values within a society exist separately from
political or economical leadership.

RULING CLASS

-Ideal expression of the dominant material relation

—Members of the power elite are consequently defined as those 'in

command of the major hierarchies and organizations of modern
society,' who have the power to make decisions of national and
international consequence
 RULERS
For over the years those who have the power rule others. Those who
are thinkers, producers of ideas and regulate production rules and
distribution of the ideas of their age.

NEW CLASS
Those are the new rulers who put themselves in one ruling.
NON-RULING CLASS
Those are the people who have no rights to lead.
SOCIAL CLASS
is a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory
centered on models of social stratification in which people are
grouped into hierarchical social categories.
3 TYPES OF SOCIAL CLASS
 Upper Class
-is the social class composed of the wealthiest members of society, who also
wield the greatest political power.

Middle Class
—is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fal
socio-economically between the working class and upper class.

Lower Class
-Is a class who has the lowest social rank or standing due to low
income, lack of skills or education, etc.
Thankyouuu!!