Virtual Teacher's Day 2025
This blog is about Virtual Teacher's Day , we student of Department of English celebrate virtual teacher's day on 5th of september as a part of it i write this blog. my topic is what is Cultural Studies? and its four goals.
1)- What is Cultural studies?
Cultural studies is an approach that goes beyond the limits of any single discipline such as literature, history, or art. It examines a wide variety of cultural texts—such as Italian opera, Latino telenovelas, prison architecture, or even body piercing—not just as works of “art” but as cultural phenomena shaped by society and politics. As Lawrence Grossberg, Cary Nelson, and Paula Treichler note, the strength of cultural studies lies in its ability to cut across diverse social and political issues. Scholars like Henry Giroux even describe cultural studies critics as “resisting intellectuals” who break down traditional academic boundaries and work toward an emancipatory project. This also means criticism is an engaged activity, much like feminism, where personal or political viewpoints may enter teaching and scholarship.
2)- Four Goals of Cultural Studies:
Goal 1: Interdisciplinarity
Cultural studies crosses the boundaries of disciplines. It does not confine itself to literary criticism alone but borrows from anthropology, sociology, economics, and media studies. For example, one can study Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) by looking at trade economies of the 18th century, historical pirates like Blackbeard, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1881), earlier film portrayals of pirates, Monty Python’s comic sketches, and even Johnny Depp’s own inspirations like Keith Richards. This openness makes cultural studies flexible and inclusive, even playful.
Goal 2: Political Engagement
Cultural studies is deeply political and oppositional. It questions unequal power structures in society and works to empower minority or “subaltern” voices. Since identity and meaning are culturally constructed, they can also be reconstructed. This challenges traditional humanism’s idea of the autonomous “Great Man” or “Great Book.” Instead, aesthetics and culture are seen as part of the lived experience of everyday people. For example, studying British Raj writings like those of Rudyard Kipling reveals how literature was tied to imperialist arguments of racial superiority and economic control.
Goal 3: Breaking the Divide Between High and Low Culture
Traditionally, being “cultured” meant appreciating elite or “highbrow” arts such as classical music or fine art. Cultural studies rejects this split, treating popular culture—rock concerts, films, TV, folk traditions—on the same level as “high” art. Thinkers like Jean Baudrillard, Andreas Huyssen, Pierre Bourdieu, and Dick Hebdige show how “good taste” often just reflects social and political privilege. After World War II, the distinction between high, low, and mass culture largely collapsed. For example, pirate stories in popular films are just as valid for study as classical opera, because both reveal the cultural and economic forces shaping society.
Goal 4: Analyzing Production and Consumption
Cultural studies not only looks at cultural works but also at how they are produced, published, circulated, and consumed. This includes asking: Who funds the artist? Who publishes the books? Who reads them, and why? Janice Radway’s Reading the Romance is a classic study of how women read romance novels and how publishers shape these books to reduce financial risk. Cathy Davidson’s Reading in America shows how literacy practices, new technologies (cheap eyeglasses, electric lights, trains), and cultural institutions (Book-of-the-Month Club) influence what people read and value. This proves that literature and culture never exist in isolation from economics and society.
Cultural Studies and Students
For students, cultural studies offers an education that is real, engaged, and relevant. It connects culture to everyday life and trains students to think critically about cultural differences. Demographic predictions say that by 2050 the U.S. will become a “majority-minority” nation, meaning White Americans will no longer be the numerical majority. This makes it essential for students to learn to deal with cultural conflict productively. Gerald Graff and James Phelan argue that “learning by controversy” is valuable training for future citizenship. A student may go from one class where Western culture is never questioned to another where it is criticized for racism, sexism, and homophobia. Cultural studies encourages students to construct conversations across these differences, which can be one of the most exciting parts of education.
Video Link on it:
youtube video link
Comments
Post a Comment