What is the topic and issue of the chapter?
Hall discusses popular culture, what he believes it to be, and how it has developed and altered over the years. He has pinpointed precise periods in our history, paying attention in detail to the late 19th centuary (more specifically the 1880-1920's) and the 1930's. The issues he addresses are that of change and restricition, dilemmas and struggle.
what is the author arguing?
A main arguement I sense when reading Hall's work is the issue of class combined with culture, and such a place where socialism might be constructed. Tradition is a vital element in culture is also a key point made by Hall.
What method does the author use to make his case?
Histroriography - it has clear he has researched the past in order to assess culture in today's society.
What suggestions/conclusions does the author make?
That capital is the driving force behind culture, and that the terrain of national-popular culture and tradition is a battlefield. Also that 'popular' can have a number of different meanings.
Do you agree or disagree with the author and why?
When reading this, I felt like Hall is one of the first theorists to actually give the power to the people, I think it's not such a bad thing to be part of the masses like other theorists believe, the minority isn't necessarily the elite either, why can't you be apart of the masses yet still be individual. Most annoyingly - why is there this continuous war between 'class against class'? I like his concept and beliefs in the people, however, in reality - i'm not sure this is really the case.
"I have as many problems with 'popular' as i do with 'culture'. When you put the two terms together the difficulties can be pretty horrendous"
"Culture struggle, of course, takes may forms: incorporation, distortion, resistance, negotiation. Raymond Williams has done us a great deal of service by outlining some of these processes, with his distinction between emergent, residual and incorporated moments. We need to expand and develop rudimentary schema. The important thing is to look at it dynamically: as an historical process."
"The term 'popular' has very complex relations to the term 'class'. We know this but are often at pains to forget it. We speak ot particular forms of working class culture, but we use the more inculsive term 'popular culture' to refer to the general field of enquiry."
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