Dominic Strinati (1995) identifies five main features of current popular culture that reflect postmodern influences. These are:
- A breakdown of the distinction between culture and society. For example, media images increasingly dominate our sense of reality and how we define ourselves.
- An emphasis on style at the expense of substance and content. For example, the importance of packaging, designer labels and advertising, rather than quality of content.
- A breakdown of the distinction between high culture and popular culture. For example, prints of Monet paintings on umbrellas; opera and football; Campbell’s soup cans as art.
- Confusion over time and space. For example, ‘visits’ to soap operas by famous ‘real’ people; lifts and pipes on the outsides of buildings rather than the insides; sporting events seen all over the world at once.
- The decline of ‘meta-narratives’ such as religion, science and political theories. For example, phone-ins where everyone’s view is as good as the expert’s; mixtures of genres and styles in films, buildings etc.
Discuss in a small group suggestions for at least two or three further examples for each of Strinati’s categories.
