Exactly what is popular culture? We all see it, hear it, watch it, read it, dance to it, and even play it. But where does it come from? What role does it fulfill? Is it worth studying more closely? Many scholars certainly think it is a worthwhile topic of study. This course will explore how popular culture intersects with other social aspects such as class, race, and gender, and how it shapes our social and cultural history and participates in creating what cultural theorist George Lipsitz calls our collective memory. By analyzing such areas as film, television, video games, music, and graphic novels, we shall evaluate how popular culture formulates an important and often complex role in the cultural experience of our lives. We shall also examine how we can usefully apply the theoretical ideas of post-structuralism, feminism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, and postmodernism to help us analyze popular culture. For example, we will examine such primary texts as Alan Moore’s graphic novel Watchmen and rock band Motley Crue’s The Dirt - Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band. Finally, we shall investigate popular culture’s relation to politics and consider the following question: Are we simply foolish and ignorant consumers manipulated by the mass culture industries, or can we actually draw on popular culture as a form of individual expression and engage in a productive dialogue with others in society?
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