CSS Forums - Cultural & Communication Studies

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B]Communication studies[/B] is the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_discipline"][COLOR=windowtext]academic discipline[/COLOR][/URL] that studies [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication"][COLOR=windowtext]communication[/COLOR][/URL]; subdisciplines include [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentation"][COLOR=windowtext]argumentation[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_communication"][COLOR=windowtext]speech communication[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetoric"][COLOR=windowtext]rhetoric[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_of_communication"][COLOR=windowtext]communication theory[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Performance_studies&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext]performance studies[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Group_communication&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext]group communication[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory"][COLOR=windowtext]information theory[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_communication"][COLOR=windowtext]intercultural communication[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_communication"][COLOR=windowtext]interpersonal communication[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrapersonal_communication"][COLOR=windowtext]intrapersonal communication[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing"][COLOR=windowtext]marketing[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_communication"][COLOR=windowtext]organizational communication[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persuasion"][COLOR=windowtext]persuasion[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda"][COLOR=windowtext]propaganda[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_affairs"][COLOR=windowtext]public affairs[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations"][COLOR=windowtext]public relations[/COLOR][/URL] and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunication"][COLOR=windowtext]telecommunication[/COLOR][/URL].[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]At many institutions, separate schools of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_communication"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Mass communication[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] share an interest in [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_of_communication"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]communication theory[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]information theory[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and media effects research, but focus on the practice as well as effects of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]public relations[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]propaganda[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]journalism[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publishing"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]publishing[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasting"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]broadcasting[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]advertising[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and international communication, leaving interpersonal, [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Performance_studies&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]performance studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman], group and organizational communication, speech, rhetoric, semiotics, and critical/cultural perspectives to the communication studies departments.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]The European tradition of communication studies partly builds on the work of the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Frankfurt School[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. The American tradition is better known for, but not limited to, [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_Sciences"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Communication Sciences[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. In the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]United Kingdom[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] the subject is often called [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]media studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] or [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]media and communication studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman].[/FONT][/SIZE]
[B][FONT=Times New Roman]History[/FONT][/B]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Various aspects of communicating have long been the subject of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Human_study&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]human study[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. In ancient [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Greece[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], the study of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetoric"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]rhetoric[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], the art of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Effective_speaking&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]effective speaking[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persuasion"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]persuasion[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], was a vital subject for [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]students[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. In the early [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_century"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]20th century[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], many [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialist"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]specialists[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] began to study communication as a specific part of their [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_discipline"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]academic disciplines[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. Communication studies began to emerge as a distinct [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_field"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]academic field[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] in the early 20th century. In 1914 the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Association_of_Academic_Teachers_of_Public_Speaking&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]National Association of Academic Teachers of Public Speaking[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], now called the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Communication_Association"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]National Communication Association[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], was founded. [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Herbert_Wichelns&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Herbert Wichelns[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] was an early pioneer. [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Propaganda[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_effects"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]media effects[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] theorists, including [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Lasswell"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Harold Lasswell[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Lewin"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Kurt Lewin[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lazarsfeld"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Paul Lazarsfeld[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] also had an important impact on the field early on. [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Innis"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Harold Innis[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Marshall McLuhan[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] developed influential analyses of communication and technology in the 1950s and 1960s. A critique of commodified communications emerged with the writings of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_W._Adorno"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Theodor W. Adorno[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Debord"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Guy Debord[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman].[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]The main national [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_organization"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]professional organization[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] for communication studies in the U.S. is the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Communication_Association"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]National Communication Association[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] (NCA). The main European associations for communication studies are the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.eccr.info/"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]European Consortium for Communications Research[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] (ECCR) and the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.ecanet.org/"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]European Communication Association[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3](ECA). The main international association for the communication studies discipline is the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Communication_Association&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]International Communication Association[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman].[/FONT][/SIZE]
[B][FONT=Times New Roman]Criticism[/FONT][/B]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Unlike other social sciences, communication is not linked to a specific profession. Psychology forms psychologists, sociology forms sociologists but there is no corresponding title for graduates of communication. Critics argue that the reason for that is that communication doesn't qualify students for any particular job. This state of affairs has been linked to the recency of the field and to the fact that communication is a pervasive phenomenon and that communication students can work in very diverse fields. Most students of communication however are able to find various jobs in a wide range of fields including university professors, marketing researchers, media editors and designers, event planners, organizational communication consultants and journalists.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[B][FONT='Times New Roman']3. Cultural studies:[/FONT][/B]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B]Cultural studies[/B] combines [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology"][COLOR=windowtext]sociology[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_theory"][COLOR=windowtext]social theory[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_theory"][COLOR=windowtext]literary theory[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_theory"][COLOR=windowtext]media theory[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_theory"][COLOR=windowtext]film/video studies[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_anthropology"][COLOR=windowtext]cultural anthropology[/COLOR][/URL] and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_history"][COLOR=windowtext]art history[/COLOR][/URL]/[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_criticism"][COLOR=windowtext]criticism[/COLOR][/URL] to study [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture"][COLOR=windowtext]cultural[/COLOR][/URL] phenomena in [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_society"][COLOR=windowtext]industrial societies[/COLOR][/URL]. Cultural studies researchers often concentrate on how a particular phenomenon relates to matters of [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology"][COLOR=windowtext]ideology[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race"][COLOR=windowtext]race[/COLOR][/URL], [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class"][COLOR=windowtext]social class[/COLOR][/URL], and/or [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender"][COLOR=windowtext]gender[/COLOR][/URL].[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Cultural studies concerns itself with the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]meaning[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and practices of everyday [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_life"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]life[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]. Cultural practices comprise the ways people do particular things (such as watching television, or eating out) in a given culture. Particular meanings attach to the ways people in particular cultures do things.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]In a loosely related but separate usage, the phrase [B]cultural studies[/B] sometimes serves as a rough synonym for [B][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_studies"][COLOR=windowtext]area studies[/COLOR][/URL][/B], as a general term referring to the academic study of particular cultures in departments and programs such as [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Islamic studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Asian studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]African American studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]African studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]German studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman], [I]et al.[/I].[/FONT][/SIZE]
[B][FONT=Times New Roman]Overview[/FONT][/B]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]In his book [I]Introducing Cultural Studies[/I], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziauddin_Sardar"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Ziauddin Sardar[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] lists the following five main characteristics of cultural studies:[/FONT][/SIZE][LIST][*][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Cultural studies aims to examine its subject matter in terms of cultural practices and their relation to [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_%28sociology%29"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]power[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]. [/FONT][/SIZE][*][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]It has the objective of understanding culture in all its complex forms and of analysing the social and political context in which culture manifests itself. [/FONT][/SIZE][*][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]It is both the object of study and the location of political criticism and action. [/FONT][/SIZE][*][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]It attempts to expose and reconcile the division of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]knowledge[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], to overcome the split between tacit ([/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cultural_knowledge&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]cultural knowledge[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]) and objective (universal) forms of knowledge. [/FONT][/SIZE][*][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]It has a commitment to an ethical evaluation of modern [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]society[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and to a [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radicalism"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]radical[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] line of political action. [/FONT][/SIZE][/LIST][B][FONT=Times New Roman]Approaches[/FONT][/B]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Scholars in the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]United Kingdom[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]United States[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] developed somewhat different versions of cultural studies after the field's inception in the late [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]1970s[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. The British version of cultural studies was developed in the 1960s mainly under the influence of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hoggart"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Richard Hoggart[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hall_%28cultural_theorist%29"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Stuart Hall[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] at the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_for_Contemporary_Cultural_Studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] at the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Birmingham"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]University of Birmingham[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. This included overtly political, [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]left-wing[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] views, and criticisms of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_culture"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]popular culture[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] as '[/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalist"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]capitalist[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]' [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_culture"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]mass culture[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]; it absorbed some of the ideas of the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_School"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Frankfurt School[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] critique of the "[/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_industry"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]culture industry[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]" (i.e. mass culture). This emerges in the writings of early British cultural-studies scholars and their influences: see the work of (for example) [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Williams"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Raymond Williams[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hall_%28cultural_theorist%29"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Stuart Hall[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Willis_%28cultural_theorist%29"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Paul Willis[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gilroy"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Paul Gilroy[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman].[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]In contrast, the American version of cultural studies initially concerned itself more with understanding the subjective and appropriative side of audience reactions to, and uses of, [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_culture"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]mass culture[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]; American cultural-studies advocates wrote about the liberatory aspects of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fandom"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]fandom[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. See the writings of critics such as [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Guillory&action=edit"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]John Guillory[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]. The distinction between American and British strands, however, has faded.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Some scholars, especially in early British cultural studies, apply a [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Marxist[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] model to the field. The main focus of an orthodox Marxist approach concentrates on the [I]production[/I] of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]meaning[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. This model assumes a mass production of culture and identifies power as residing with those producing [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_artifact"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]cultural artifacts[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. In a Marxist view, those who control the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Means_of_production"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]means of production[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] (the economic [I]base[/I]) essentially control a culture.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Other approaches to cultural studies, such as [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]feminist[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] cultural studies and later American developments of the field, distance themselves from this view. They criticise the Marxist assumption of a single, dominant meaning, shared by all, for any cultural product. The non-Marxist approaches suggest that different ways of consuming cultural artifacts affect the meaning of the product.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Another major point of criticism involved the traditional view assuming a passive consumer. Other views challenge this, particularly by underlining the different ways people [I]read[/I], receive, and interpret cultural texts. On this view, a consumer can appropriate, actively reject, or challenge the meaning of a product. These different approaches have shifted the focus away from the [I]production[/I] of items. Instead, they argue that [I]consumption[/I] plays an equally important role, since the way consumers consume a product gives meaning to an item. Some closely link the act of consuming with [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_identity"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]cultural identity[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hall_%28cultural_theorist%29"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Stuart Hall[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] has become influential in these developments. Some commentators have described the shift towards meaning as the [I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_turn"][COLOR=windowtext]cultural turn[/COLOR][/URL][/I].[/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]In the context of cultural studies, the idea of a [I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text"][COLOR=windowtext]text[/COLOR][/URL][/I] not only includes written language, but also [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]films[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]photographs[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]fashion[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] or [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairstyle"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]hairstyles[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]: the texts of cultural studies comprise all the meaningful artifacts of culture. Similarly, the discipline widens the concept of "culture". "Culture" for a cultural studies researcher not only includes traditional [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_culture"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]high culture[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_culture"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]popular culture[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], but also everyday meanings and practices. The last two, in fact, have become the main focus of cultural studies. A further and recent approach is [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_cultural_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]comparative cultural studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], based on the discipline of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_literature"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]comparative literature[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] and cultural studies.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[B][FONT=Times New Roman]Critical views[/FONT][/B]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Cultural studies is not a unified theory but a diverse field of study encompassing many different approaches, methods, and academic perspectives; as in any academic discipline, cultural studies academics frequently debate among themselves. However, some academics from other fields have criticised the discipline as a whole. It has been popular to dismiss cultural studies as an academic fad. Yale literature professor [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Bloom"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Harold Bloom[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] has been an outspoken critic of the cultural studies model of literary studies. Critics such as Bloom see cultural studies as it applies to literary scholarship as a vehicle of careerism by academics, as opposed to promoting the public interest by studying what makes beautiful literary works beautiful.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Bloom stated his position during the 3 September 2000 episode of C-SPAN's "Booknotes":[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]"[...T]here are two enemies of reading now in the world, not just in the English-speaking world. One [...is...] the lunatic destruction of literary studies [...] and its replacement by what is called cultural studies in all of the universities and colleges in the English-speaking world, and everyone knows what that phenomenon is.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]I mean, the [...] now-weary phrase 'political correctness' remains a perfectly good descriptive phrase for what has gone on and is, alas, still going on almost everywhere and which dominates, I would say, rather more than three-fifths of the tenured faculties in the English-speaking world, who really do represent a treason of the intellectuals, I think, a 'betrayal of the clerks'." [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Literary critic [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Eagleton"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Terry Eagleton[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] is not wholly opposed to cultural studies theory like Bloom, but has criticised certain aspects of it, highlighting what he sees as its strengths and weaknesses in books such as [I]After Theory[/I] (2003). For Eagleton, literary and cultural theory have the potential to say important things about the "fundamental questions" in life, but theorists have rarely realized this potential.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[B][FONT=Times New Roman]Compare[/FONT][/B]

[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Culture[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_history"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]cultural history[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_identity"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]cultural identity[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_theory"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]culture theory[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_critic"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]cultural critic[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_studies"][COLOR=windowtext][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Area studies[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/URL]