Five_Types_Of_Cultural_Studies

FIVE_TYPES_OF_CULTURAL_STUDIES

Introduction:This five types of cultural studies comprises; British Cultural Materialism, American Multiculturalism, New Historicism, Postmodernism and Popular Culture and lastly Postcolinialism. Each and every aspects of cultural studies contains some writers, who have shared their different views, concerning that particular tendency, first narrating the problems, than trying to find the resolution of that solution, by means of cultural approaches. Let's see in brief how it has been utilized by cultural critic.

BRITISH_CULTURAL_MATERIALISM: 

Where two trajectories are presented, one leading to the past(feudal system) another to the future(social utopia). As a result a leftist oriental was originated, who studied formalism, antihistoricism, apoliticism etc to know the actually problem prevailing at those times.

Many writers Michel Foucault(complexity of power forces), Althuser(Ideology of social relationships), Benjamin(Fascism), Burnett(Primitive culture). As it was a long tradition, it was also influenced by Mathew Mathew Arnold.

Who utilized their ideas to study the prevailing tendencies of culture, seems to be experimental,  know their problems and tried to sort it out.

AMERICAN_MULTICULTURALISM:

It constitutes two things in it; social conflict(1966 Violent insurrections) and cultural development.

Social conflict arises with discrimination in respects of race, gender, ethnicity and many other things. Based on biases and prejudices, they may be restricted from entering into their necessitate spheres of lives and so they have to remain in the culprit's eyes as other, forever.

Richard Lewontin found that : "Most genetic differences were within racial groups, not between them".

For which many writers had contributed in form of their missions towards awareness, to be the believer of 'salad bowl culture' rather than 'a melting pot culture'. That is to believe in differences rather than sticking on oneness. To be amiable with others's identities, Americans were levied to graduate with framework of historical knowledge, that includes:

• Afro-American writers
• Latina / o Writers / Mexican writers
• American-Indian Literatures
• Asian-American writers

With constitution of these variety of histories, perhaps Americans will understand the grain of differences in outside and inside of culture and there won't be any differences regarding gender, race, ethnicity etc.

NEW_HISTORICISM

Old Historicism Vs New Historicism

World views magesterially unfolding as a series of a tableaux in a film called progress, while the later one with order of the interplaying forms of power.

Stephen Greenblatt, a Renaissance scholar and founding editor of "Journal representations", may be credited with the coinage of the term "new historicism". Greenblatt identifies major influence on his thought from Jameson : Capitalism as perpetrating a false distinction between private and public. Jean Francois Lyotard : Capitalism has forced a false integration of these worlds. While Veeser  explains : New historicism exists, between these two poles : Distinction and integration of aforementioned two sectors.

If we refer to this the story of "Laputa(Gulliver's Travels novel in III voyage by Lilliputians):

Laputa is a flying island and female anatomy or can be compared with female Gynaecology and Power.

As Sussan Bruce examines the four parts of Gulliver's travels, already given dry account through "Corolini Di Marco". She says here that in 1727, three things were found parallely; one the midwives of the Eighteenth century, who were with then times physicians and a havoc, created in Royal family about, rabbits are being born.

At first we see the first aspect as stated by Jameson about capitalism(distinction between two sectors). As female wasn't given recognition at that time, they were differentiated from men in many respects, and there was literal distinction. But then with the advent of education, an idea came in mind, to equalized both of them, but then it had become an ego problem and women had become stubborn(reflecting the other aspect as said by Lyotard) so integration falsely come to an end and ultimately neither female is given power / recognition or an honour of having integration of men, so she has to swing in between, between the two poles.

POSTMODERNISM_POPULAR_CULTURE

Postmodernism is concerned with 'dismemberment of tradition' and establishing the real objects. Who according to "Jean Baudrillard : Simulacra and Simulation": Real objects aren't having depth and coherency, but without depth, seems to mere superficial,  shallow and presented in disparate fragmented manner, which is actually narrating one's distortive experience.

• Ulrich Bech : Risk Society.
• Paul Virilio : The logic (Science) of speed.
• Jean Francois Lyotard : Postmodernism prefers 'mini-narratives'(based on local events) rather than meta or grand narratives.

Then also came another initiative of 'slow movement' which told that "slowmovement doesn't mean to be slow literally by with right speed". That would be savouring(not counting on time but utilizing time qualitatively), productive, healthier and qualitative.

Popular culture:

Main Four Types Of Popular culture analyses : Historical analyses(ask about the rest three dimensions, changing over time) : Textual analyses(The examination of specific popular culture works and its meaning creation): Production analyses(ask questions on the owning of media, creation of text and the reason of its creation, under which circumstances, democratic and elitist-a production of popular culture and the works centralizing only money) : Audience analyses(Ask about the different groups of popular culture; consumers  or users, make similar or different sense of the text).

Thus the difference between the two; Postmodernism and Popular culture is that the former speaks for "subject positions" and latter for human notion and so are above mentioned four main types of popular culture analyses.

POSTCOLONIALISM:

 As said by "Slavoj Zizek" : An invention, which helped many rich guys in India, by being at top universities, build their careers by playing with guilts of white liberals.

Refers to a historical phase undergone by third world countries after the decline of colonialism.

For example : Asia, Africa(Post - Negritude movement) Latin America and the Caribbean separated from the European empires and were left to rebuilt themselves.

Britain seemed to foster in its political institutions as well as in literature universal ideals for proper living, while at the same time perpetuating African enslavement and other imperialist cruelties around the world, causing untold misery and destroying millions of lives.

Many third world writers focus on colonialism and the changes created in the postcolonial culture, the latter concerns both the resurrection of culture and to combat the preconceptions about their culture.

An touchstone of "Orientalism" was given by Said, who said that "Britishers have contributed their part in constructing Easterns, rather than destructing them due to their anxieties and preoccupations.

Furthermore the people who were literally colonized, are read more(E.g : productions by aboriginal authors, marginalized ethnicities, immigrants and refugees) rather than those who had their upper hand and so one of the writers, Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak has written for voiceless people, to give them voice. Many others are there who had contributed their parts in describing the colonial situation and the suppressed voice of the then people.

Thus we learnt here 'the five types of cultural studies' where how Britishers have their materialist aspect, diversity of American multiculturalism, how new historicism differs from old history, what is its connotative meaning, the postmodernism concerning the real objects (superficial and without depth), popular culture (concerning human notion) and the last but not least post colonialism(concerning colonized people).

Thankyou

Samiya Kagdi

A learner at PG center

Department Of English 

MKBU

Applied Sources:

Cultural Studies : Different Approaches.