The John Fiske Collection: Understanding Popular Culture

Key Concepts

Distinction Between Cultures

Fiske differentiates between mass culture, which refers to the standardized cultural products produced by industrialized societies, and popular culture, which encompasses the ways individuals interact with, reinterpret, and subvert these products to create personal meanings. He argues that popular culture is not merely a passive consumption of mass-produced items; rather, it is an active process where audiences engage creatively with cultural texts12.

Cultural Artifacts

The book examines various cultural artifacts, demonstrating how they serve as sites for negotiation of identity and power. Fiske emphasizes that these artifacts can reveal underlying class, race, and gender dynamics within society. For instance, he discusses how the meanings attached to everyday items like clothing or media can reflect broader social issues12.

Audience Agency

A significant theme in Fiske's work is the agency of the audience. He challenges the notion of a "mindless mass audience" by showing that people actively derive pleasure and meaning from popular culture. This engagement often involves resistance to the dominant narratives propagated by mass culture