The Research Of Richard Hoggart’s Cultural Value Theories

The world culture research originated in Britain, the British cultural studies originated in the university of Birmingham, Birmingham school of cultural studies can be traced back to the late 1950’s to the early 1960’s. The founding of the Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies(CCCS) at the University of Birmingham by Richard Hoggart in 1964 marks the establishment of cultural studies as a discipline. In 1957, he published "The uses of literacy" and this book started the form of cultural studies, which created a new situation in the British working class culture research, and made an indelible contribution to the research of mass culture. Richard Hoggart, has not only inherited from the traditional culture of elite consciousness, but also is a real culture advocate of the working class. Richard Hoggart, as one of the fathers of cultural research, not only the importance of the theory analysis of the cultural value theories, but also the demonstration role in his research on cultural development. As one of the earliest scholars who focus on the problem of the working class culture, Richard Hoggart, has played a key role in the process of culture research. Therefore, it is important to research cultural theories of Richard Hoggart.This paper adopts the research methods of text combination and theoretical generalization. By the evaluation of elite culture and popular culture, discussing the cultural value theories of Hoggart; By the cultural studies in early time and at the same time, clarifying the thought basis of the formation of Hoggart’s cultural value theories; By the overall features of the theory of Hoggart’s cultural value, discussing his contribution to the world culture institute. Framework of this paper is as follows:the first chapter discusses the theoretical origin of the ideology on Hoggart’s cultural value. Man’s thought cannot be created by himself. From the four aspects, this chapter reveals the ideological basis of Hoggart’s culture research. The second chapter is the main body of this article, mainly from the beginning of Hoggart’s cultural studies, the standpoint, the research field, the main characteristics and Hoggart’s cultural ideal and so on, grasping the essential connotation of the writer’s theories. The third chapter, based on the theory contribution, mainly gives some comments on Hoggart’s cultural value theories from theoretical contribution and limitation. There is no doubt that Hoggart’s cultural value theories play an important role to the world culture research in paradigm and object.