xxvi People share their beliefs and values with other people in society. They
differ from one society to another. After people see some specific realities or phenomena in society and propose their own view of reality beliefs, then they
learn for several values. Most of people’s basic values are learned in life from family, friend, mass media, and other sources within society. The beliefs and
values are generally shared and reinforced by others in daily interaction. They are sometimes emotional and each of them are also in conflict either in one individual
or between individuals in society Eshleman, et.al.. 1993: 6. In addition to the conflict contradiction, at least there are three other
kinds of natural complexity in the relationship of myths, beliefs, and values. The complete four kinds of the complexity are:
a. Each myth has a number of associated beliefs and values
b. Each myth and its associated beliefs and values is related to at leas
one other myth in a symbiotic manner c.
Popular myths often contradict each other in important ways d.
Beliefs change and evolve over time Nachbar and Lause, 1992: 99-101
3. The Position of Popular Culture
All of people participate in at least two kinds of culture besides popular culture which forms the bulk of our cultural existence. We need both as a means
to understand, illustrate, and identify several other significant characteristics of the popular culture.
The first is folk culture. It refers to the products of human work and thought that have developed within a limited community and that are
xxvii communicated directly from generation to generation, between folk who are
familiar to each other. The means of communication is usually oral, the author or creator of the artifact or event is often unknown or is termed as a spokesperson
who tells and demonstrates something which had previously been told or demonstrated to him or her and it is also typically simple both thematically and
technologically. We are all part of a folk as well as a member of the masses. It is equally important to recognize what folk culture is not as well. Folk culture is not
merely the culture of the poor or uneducated. Nachbar and Lause, 1992: 15 The second is elite culture. It refers to the products of human work and
thought produced by and for a limited number of people who have specialized interests, training, and knowledge. The elite artists are known by the audience and
the artist’s works are used to express the interpretation of the world of society or all of reality. The roles of audiences are very important because the more
audiences know about the artists, the more meaningful the artist’s works is. Elite art is produced for the ages not for a tiny folk community or for the entertainment
and diversion of the masses ibid., p. 15-16. Most of audiences or common people thought that the folk culture deals
with the poverty and stupidity and the elite culture deals with the intelligence and wealth. However those thoughts are totally wrong because there are no connection
and relation among the folk and elite cultures to the stupidity, poverty, intelligence, and wealth.
The three parts of culture: folk, popular, and elite have the relationships in understanding the study of popular culture and the approach in culture. The
relationship among folk, popular, and elite culture has been illustrated by Ray
xxviii Browne and it forms a simple diagram that represents several significant aspects
of the way the cultures interact with each other.
Folk Popular Elite
Culture
a. The relationship among the three is non evaluative. It means the three kinds of
culture have the same level and there is no designation of low, middle, or high and no one culture is to be described better or worse than any other.
b. The shape of the representatives “egg” indicates that popular culture is the
major portion of a society’s total way of life. It surrounds us and forms the fabric of our everyday lives in a way that folk and elite culture do not.
c. The relationship among the three is fluid. It means there are no hard and fast
lines separating the cultures from each other, but rather, each culture seems to flow almost indefinably into its neighbor. This fluid relationship in turn has
two important elements: 1
Each member or a society experiences all three types of culture. There are no lines to prevent an individual from moving freely from one cultural
type to another. 2
A given cultural artifact or event can change culture categories over time or because of changes in its mode of presentation or audience Brown in
Nachbar and Lause, 1992: 16-17.
4. Reflective Study of Popular Culture
