Popular Culture In The Modern Context

The development and expansion of popular culture have been one of the most remarkable cultural phenomena in the world since early in twenty century, which is a result of social and culture change, and indicates a new cultural form and structure in the modern society. Popular culture is changing the characteristics of culture and art, and influences people's daily life and aesthetical concepts. The emergence of popular culture is not fortuitous. Popular culture arises, develops and explants in the context of modernity, which is the result and expression of the social and cultural modernity.The meaning of culture has been changing in pace with the social and historical development. From the cultural history point of view, the meaning of culture changes round from elitist to popular, from narrow to general and from sacred to worldly, which is historical trend of cultural development. Popular culture, as a part of culture, is result of the cultural development. From social history point of view, The emergence of popular culture had close relationship with the emergence of the masses. The emergence of masses indicated the change of social characteristics, as well as the change of social structure, value structure and humanity structure. As a most widespread and varied culture, popular culture is related to economic, politic, production, technology, city, media, consumption, daily life and so on. Popular culture is not only a cultural phenomenon, but also a economical, political, technological, consumable and urban phenomenon. It contains many important factors of modern society, so it reflects varied characteristics of modernity.The characteristic of culture is related to its means of communication. Different means of communication and medium corresponds to different social and historical formation and cultural formation. The emergence and development of the modern mass media inevitably brings about the relevant cultural formation. Popular culture is produced and transmitted by the mass media especial electronic media. Popular culture is quite different from traditional culture and art in the way of production and acceptance, It changed the characteristic of traditional culture and art. Depending its economical and technological strength, the mass media boundlessly extends its influence, shows its strong cultural force, and has become the core of social power system. Because of the dissemination of the mass media and popular culture, more and more people are brought into 'the public sphere', and reflects cultural democratization. As result of the influence and infiltration of science and technology, the mass media and popular culture have changed the way of people's life, as well as the way which people perceive the world, and people's psychological experiences, having formed new aesthetical concept and psychology.Both city and popular culture are the productions of modernization. Big city means modernity caused by industrialization and post-industrialization showing in reality, and popular culture means modernity showing in people's spirit and psychology. The important significance of city to popular culture is that only in city can popular culture aroused and developed, so popular culture contains main character and secret of urban culture. Popular culture is main cultural form of urban people's diversions, which fits in with the psychological character of urban people, and is also the reflections and expressions of way of urban life and urban spirit. An important decisive factor for the development and expansion of popular culture is the emergence of culture industry. As a developed area, city is the area where culture industry is flourishing. The city in the time of post-industrialization is out of the time of machines, and the high-tech industry such as advanced communications and information technology has become main source of increasing in economic of city. Cultural capital, instead of industrial capital has become the motive force of urban economic, and city has become the center of culture industry. As the source of popular culture, city is the place where fashion is flourishing, and it is naturally a fashionable arena. Fashion is generally created and led by the middle-class and young people in the modern society, which expresses the middle-class tastes and the character of youth culture. As 'the mass' of the modern society, the middle-class has deferent way and attitute of life, values, tastes from those of traditional society, and as the cultural symbol and language, fashion is always related to enthusiasm, vigor, sensitivity, disobedience, eagerness for freedom and independence, which is full of sense of time. Popular culture has the distinct character of youth culture.Popular culture is bound up with the modern consumption society. A important symbol of the consumption society is the emergence of the mass consumption. Now consumption infiltrates every region of the society. The consumption shows not only the relations between people and goods, but also the relations between people and society, as well as people and the world. Popular culture aroused and developed in space with the emergence and maturity of the consumption society, its production and circulation shows the character of consumption, which expresses not only the cultural significance but economical significance, Marketing economic gives the important conditions for the emergence and flourishing of popular culture, which also is the important social foundation of development of popular culture.Modern consumption is a process of transforming goods to sign, or the process of realizing the sign meaning of goods, so the consumption becomes social and cultural activity, and a part of popular culture. Mass media and popular culture create the signs and images of goods, and express and stimulate people's consume desire. A large number of signs and images of goods and life have been creating by mass media and popular culture. This phenomenon is not only in the people's consume activities, but is the important character of the modern society.