Original scientific paper

Mass Media and the Semiotics of Popular Culture

Danijel Labaš orcid.org/0000-0002-2339-6277 ; Hrvatski studiji Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Maja Mihovilović ; Visoka škola za odnose s javnošću i studij medija Kairos, Zagreb, Hrvatska

Abstract

The paper attempts to define and describe the principal characteristics of popular culture in western society, as well as its close relationship with the mass media. As the spread of contemporary popular culture implies the use of mass media, the
paper attempts to provide an insight as to how characteristics of popular culture are shaped into media content. The paper represents a middle ground among the theories of popular culture and takes all of its various expressions into account – both those which appeal to baser human instincts and those which provide a highly aesthetic
experience – i.e., both media spectacle and true art form. Society is viewed as both a consumer and a producer of popular culture, which does not exclude the possibility of capitalist cultural production. Finally, the paper attempts to provide an answer to the question what makes popular ‘popular’ and supports its conclusions with examples of some expressions of popular culture; for instance, television, film,
music and language.

Keywords

mass media; popular culture; semiotics

Hrčak ID:

75496

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/75496

Publication date:

30.11.2011.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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