RLS100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Folklore, Greek Love, Scopophilia

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Recreation and Leisure Studies
• Course: RLS100
• Professor: Elizabeth Halpenny

Document Summary

Favourite or least favourite quotation (and page number): Television is by far the pastime we participate in most frequently and thus is a central example of popular culture. We begin this chapter by clarifying the importance of studying popular culture. Then, we discuss the characteristics of popular culture along with specific examples. Finally, the chapter"s conclusion debates the role of popular culture"s core, mediated entertainment. (pg. 146) Popular culture refers to the everyday pastimes of the majority of people in a society. In contemporary societies popular culture examples are typically media-based forms of entertainment including television, spectator sports, popular music, films, and amusements parks. (pg. 145) Mediated entertainment as a form of leisure is perhaps the most obvious reflection of who we are as a society. (pg. 145) Popular culture, or mass leisure, is an important reflection of society. Because of its pervasive expression of the society itself, it also can shape and instruct society. (pg. 160)