Popular Culture Industry: Enlightenment As Mass Deception

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The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong Community College

CC3720 POPULAR CULTURE AND CONSUMPTION

Individual Assignment

Group: 203

Student name: Fung Yeuk Wun Yvonne
Student number: 10104816A
Lecturer: Dr Siu-lai Lau

In this individual assignment, I would like to summarize my understanding on two articles I have read and hence discuss my criticism and reflection about that.

The first article is The Culture Industry – Enlightenment as mass deception by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer.

With the rise of culture industry, folk culture has die out. To Adorno and Horkhimer, high art is the only redemption as both high culture and folk culture have the similar core elements and functions. In contrary, mass culture is failed …show more content…

The relationship between culture production and technology is increasingly close.
3. The subject of culture is longer as the cultural consumers of the masses.

Under the impact brought by culture industry, human loss its individuality and the nature of culture are generally replaced by commercial logic. Culture is only for exchange value but not for the need. Standardization and schematization bring about the vulgarization of mass culture.

According to Adorno, our world is full of suffering regardless of the absurdity derived from any surviving or relative limitation derived from different era. With the development of production power, instrumental domination of enlightenment, control of economic power and etc, the society nowadays is seemingly break through the old rules and disciplines, however, it does not bring us real liberation but a new formation of sufferings.

The suppression of negativity towards culture industry is one kind of manifestation of suffering and the trick of it is to falsely solve or evade any sufferings. Culture industry constructs different solutions once we face inquires and various kinds of suppression and pain in reality through product.

Adorno stated that the impact of culture industry towards consumers was constructed through …show more content…

Luxury resorts, sentimental fashion, the bright lights of the karaoke bars and magnificent party is keep coming in your life which are not allow you to ward off. It is everywhere in life but seems completely not related to us. The promise of illusional culture false, it uses fictional way to bring people to an unreal world. To most public, it is a dream which can only wish but not expect, but it induces people’s possessive desire and tendency in order to change people 's values and way of life. Nostalgic mode captures the composition of beauty and public taste in consumption society which becomes an illusion of people to go along with the survival of a pleasant life. People try their best to recover the loss in the past old photos, old houses, old furniture and etc. Besides painting, Jameson also uses film as an example. It surrounds the reality in front of people by using a soft romantic and pretended nostalgia, repackage the time of our history and make you believe it is a new

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