PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURE

1. CULTURE
 Traditional definition of Culture (Tylor)
 The term was first used in this way by the pioneer English Anthropologist Edward
B. Tylor in his book, Primitive Culture, published in 1871. Tylor said that culture is
"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals,
custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member
of society." Of course, it is not limited to men. Women possess and create it as
well. Since Tylor's time, the concept of culture has become the central focus of
anthropology.
 Culture is a powerful human tool for survival, but it is a fragile phenomenon. It is
constantly changing and easily lost because it exists only in our minds. Our
written languages, governments, buildings, and other man-made things are merely
the products of culture. They are not culture in themselves. For this
reason, archaeologists cannot dig up culture directly in their excavations. The
broken pots and other artifacts of ancient people that they uncover are only
material remains that reflect cultural patterns--they are things that were made and
used through cultural knowledge and skills.

Postmodern definition of Culture (http://sociology.iresearchnet.com/sociology-of-

culture/postmodern-culture/)

 Postmodern culture is a far reaching term describing a range of activities, events, and
perspectives relating to art, architecture, the humanities, and the social sciences
beginning in the second half of the twentieth century. In contrast to modern culture, with
its emphasis on social progress, coherence, and universality, postmodern culture
represents instances of dramatic historical and ideological change in which modernist
narratives of progress and social holism are viewed as incomplete, elastic, and
contradictory. In conjunction with the end of modernist progress narratives, an
insistence on coherence gives way to diversity and the dominance of universality is
subverted by difference within a postmodern condition. Additionally, postmodern culture
stands for more than the current state of society. Postmodern culture is characterized
by the valuing of activities, events, and perspectives that emphasize the particular over
the global or the fragment over the whole.

Culture and society are not the same thing. While cultures are complexes of
learned behavior patterns and perceptions, societies are groups of
interacting organisms. People are not the only animals that have
societies. Schools of fish, flocks of birds, and hives of bees are societies. In the
case of humans, however, societies are groups of people who directly or indirectly
interact with each other. People in human societies also generally perceive that
their society is distinct from other societies in terms of shared traditions and
expectations.
While human societies and cultures are not the same thing, they are inextricably
connected because culture is created and transmitted to others in a
society. Cultures are not the product of lone individuals. They are the
 continuously evolving products of people interacting with each other. Cultural
patterns such as language and politics make no sense except in terms of the
interaction of people. If you were the only human on earth, there would be no
need for language or government.

 Global Culture Supermarket/ Supermarket Culture

(https://marianic.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/supermarket-culture/)

Readings:
As people who leave in 21st century, we are supporting freedom of choice as
much as freedom of speech. We want to have a freedom to choose where we live,
whom we play with and what we eat. We want to have a lot of choices of what we can
purchase for our meal. Supermarket has become a great invention here and I could see
that people have prefer to go to supermarket because of the convenience and the
choice rather than to farmers market. Raj Patel mentioned that “…consumerism has
constructed us, built consuming people at the same time as building consumer
goods…” (pg. 223) Our mind has been set to consume stuffs that we don’t necessarily
need. Supermarket is a good example where such condition can be applied since
“…people tend to consume more, to pick things off shelves…” (pg 218) when they are
presented with wide range of choices.
I took marketing class last summer, an introduction to advertising. In that class I
have learned how a corporate can push their items through supermarket shelves. If I
want to push the sell of salsa sauce I will not only put the salsa at Hispanic section, but
at the chips and snack section. It said that when people buy chips, they will have high
tendency to buy something they see at the snacks section that could compliment the
chips. This strategy applies to all the food in supermarket. We may have chosen what
we want to buy, but we cannot choose what we don’t want to buy. We have the freedom
to choose but that freedom “was born in a cage.” (pg. 222) Our pattern of buying has
already been prepared for us as soon as we set our foot into the supermarket.
To use a metaphor of cage as supermarket is not totally ridiculous, although the
cage is huge. Our choices are limited. Our taste is no longer ‘our’ taste, it has become a
corporate’s taste. We have to buy ‘tastes’ that are presented to us in supermarket
because the production cost is cheaper. Although those ‘tastes’ are not healthy for us,
we are made to believe that we have no other choices when we have to pick between
health and money. What we previously believed as improvement in increasing our
shopping experience is starting to lose its core meaning. We believe that supermarket is
convenient, it is not. It has shaped our culture to consume more. We are living in the
culture of consumerism. Judgment is not made based on our moral and value, but on
the materials that we consume. The fun of shopping is solely base on how many
choices we can make and I feel pity for that.
THEORIES OF CULTURE
 Cultural evolution theory
 Cultural evolution as a theory in anthropology was developed in the
19th century, and it was an outgrowth of Darwinian evolution.
Cultural evolution presumes that over time, cultural change such as
the rise of social inequalities or emergence of agriculture occurs as
a result of humans adapting to some noncultural stimulus, such
as climate change or population growth. However, unlike Darwinian
evolution, cultural evolution was considered directional that is, as
human populations transformed themselves, their culture becomes
progressively complex.

 Historical-particularism
 The idea of historical particularism suggests all cultures have their own
historical trajectory and that each culture developed according to this
history. This idea was popularized by the anthropologist Franz Boas, who
is widely considered a founder of the discipline of anthropology.
 The term historical particularism refers to the idea that each culture has
its own particular and unique history that is not governed by universal
laws. This idea is a big component of Boasian anthropology because it is
where Boasians put their focus on when studying cultures. Historical
particularism was developed in contrast to Boas’ rejection of Lewis Henry
Morgan’s idea of an evolutionary path and the use of the comparative
method. The evolutionary path used generalities and universal themes to
explain cultural similarities, but Boas “contended that cultural traits first
must be explained in terms of specific cultural contexts rather than by
broad reference to general evolutionary trends” . Boas and his followers
would argue that cultures cannot be compared or be subjected to
generalities because each culture experienced a different and unique
history, even if it led to a similar cultural aspect. Historical particularism
and the concept of diffusion mentioned above actually go quite hand in
hand. Traits that are similar between cultures may have diffused through
interaction between various cultures. However, while these traits are
similar, they will develop different and unique histories from their
movement through various societies.
 The Structural-Functional
 Under structural-functionalism, norms and roles contribute to the ongoing
social processes. Norms spell out social expectations. Roles are
appropriate ways to act in various social situations. Norms and roles are
structurally produced and contribute to the ongoing functioning of society.
They are the result of social agreements and are transmitted through
social structures. Attempts to devise new norms and new roles are
temporary adjustments of the social system and lead to stronger social
understandings that allow society to continue to function. New gender role
expectations, for example, may be only temporary deviance or may lead
 to a new set of acceptable norms and roles. Knowledge of acceptance of
norms and roles promotes the smooth functioning of society. Social
structures such as agents of socialization ensure continuity by passing on
acceptable understandings.
 Merton’s theory of anomie is structural-functional. Deviance occurs
when members of society do not have access to or reject acceptable
social goals and means. Those who find new ways of doing things or who
do new things are deviant because they do not contribute to the existing
normative order. Deviance, in the view of structural-functionalists, is either
functional or dysfunctional to society. Deviance can help or hurt society.

 Social-Conflict
 -According to the social conflict, norms and roles are regular ways to
distribute society’s resources—money, power, and prestige. Most norms
and roles operate to the advantage of some and to the disadvantage of
others. The acceptance of norms and roles as they exist perpetuates an
unequal distribution of society’s resources and therefore inequality.
Attempts to devise new understandings that are more equitable. New
gender roles would lead to more equality between the genders and would
allow men and women to achieve without regard to extraneous limitations
due only to labels, not ability.
Deviance is one way to achieve a more equitable social
order. Those without access to political power, jobs, or
education use protest in an attempt to restructure society.
Deviance can be a positive force in society, giving groups
more input into society’s decision-making structures.
 Symbolic interactionism

 Symbolic interactionism is a term coined by Herbert Blumer. He believes that in

order to understand society, it is of paramount concern to know the underlying
concepts embedded in everyday communication and interaction.
 It outlines social interaction and focuses on it to understand social phenomenon.
The way individuals interact and communicate with each other can be
characterized by symbolism. These symbols used in everyday experiences and
encounters with other people in the form of language, written or unwritten, is the
key in understanding the society.

 World Culture Theory

 World culture theory is a label for a particular interpretation of globalization
that focuses on the way in which participants in the process become
conscious of and give meaning to living in the world as a single place