High Culture Vs Popular Culture Essay

Culture, as a thing that is considered as wide and limitless, has many different definitions. E.B. Tylor’s definition can be given as an example to these definitions: "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." (Tylor 1871:1). As it can be understood from the definition, culture is directly connected to the human and also because of its broadness, it has had many different varieties throughout the time. As one of the varieties culture has, popular culture is generally defined as the cultural activities and products reflect or aimed for the general masses of people. High culture, on the other hand, is defined as the artistic entertainment materials associated with a society’s sophisticated, aristocratic or educated class and require specific skills and education to be appreciated. Both concepts have their own standards and determinants.

The subject that I will be trying to examine in this essay is the main definitions and standards of both concepts, the process of their intermingling and how they are consumed simultaneously with the examples such as a woman singing opera in a talent show that is televised for the entertainment

For example, Andy Warhol’s painting Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in different colors and saying “thirty was better than one” is an example of turning high culture into popular culture. High culture art forms are turning into products for sale in the mass market to be consumed by the mass of ordinary people and they are incorporated into daily life, just like Andy Warhol’s work has been marketed to the millions of people with postcards and