Popular culture is not neutral regarding the sensibilities it encourages. Because of the centrality of commercial concerns, popular culture maintains a preferential option for the upbeat, the informal, the new and "interesting.
"Popular culture" is a slippery and deceptive term for a massive and unwieldy reality. As in other controversies, many arguments about popular culture are frustrating because there is no prior agreement on exactly what is being talked about.
Sometimes "popular culture" is used to denote any cultural activity not produced and sanctioned by "elite" cultural institutions. But that really doesn't clarify things, since the term "elite" has a number of meanings. In referring to "elite" cultural institutions, do we mean those institutions supported by ...
