Abstract

“Popular Culture” has been defined in various ways, but essentially it means two things: (1) the system of shared meanings and values that unite most of the people in any given society, and (2) the actual embodiment of these qualities and attitudes in particular objects or performances that can then be exchanged, consumed, observed, or otherwise experienced by other members of the community (e.g., paintings, plays, books, songs and the like). The first refers to the cultural “tone” of a society, and the second to the objectification of this tone in cultural artifacts. From the beginning, therefore, an obvious split needs to be noted in the realm of culture.