What is Pop Culture Anyway?
by Mia Burke
“What exactly is Pop Culture?” is one of the most frequently asked questions from readers. Though this term is common, few of us know what it really means. Let’s explore the concept and consider how BibleandPopCulture.com uses the idea to delve into a culture’s artifacts in light of the Bible.
What is Culture?
There are many meanings and connotations of the word culture, but cultural theologian Andy Crouch’s definition hits closest to the meaning we’re going for in our magazine.
Culture is what we make of the world. It’s the name for our relentless, restless human effort to take the world as it’s given to us and make something else…just like the original Creator; we are creators. God, of course, began with nothing, whereas we begin with something…our God-given desire is to make something more than we were given.
Humanities vs. Science meme. Unknown source.
It all starts with the concept of culture. At its base form, culture is merely the meaning a group of people in a particular place at a specific time, making meaning out of something. Or as many refer to as meaning-making. Meaning-making is asking the question, what does it mean to be human? Simply, we attempt to make sense of the answers to which we arrive to answer that question.
Photo by Andhika Y. Wiguna on Unsplash.
Photo by Eiliv-Sonas Aceron on Unsplash.
One item recognized worldwide (we’ll refer to an item as an artifact) is the food staple, rice. Every culture on the planet includes rice in some form in its diet. But it looks, tastes, and is used differently in each culture. The meaning-making is made from the fact that there are different strains of the grain rice, cooked with different methods, with differences in what accompanies the rice (such as spices, food pairings, etc.) based on availability in the region of origin and its culturally developed tastes. Native Americans determined that with the strain of grain in their region, during a specific period long ago, with the spices and cooking utensils available to them, that rice is this. And as it was passed down generation to generation, and across cultures, we came to know this variety as Native American Rice. The same can be said for bread, cars, education, values, perception, language, music...the list goes on and on.
I love cultural theologian William Romanowski’s definitions of artifacts and their purposes from his book, Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture:
Artifacts provide a collective experience for a culture by expressing concerns, fears, prejudices, and aspirations.
Popular artworks (artifacts) look at life in a fallen world that is at once hostile to and also in search of God.
Artifacts are an arena for argument and debate.
Meaning-Makers
Photo by Saketh Garuda on Unsplash.
Meaning-making is about the human experience and considering how to interpret “it.” What does a thing mean? Thinking through an artifact then assigning a meaning to it. But it is not always that simple. There’s a concept called worldview that we bring to the table when we consider an artifact.
Worldview is a term on loan to us from the German word Weltanschauung (Welt ‘world’ and Anschauung ‘view’ or ‘outlook’) attributed to my philosopher buddy Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). In simple terms, it is how we view the world- the pair of glasses we choose to put on and see reality through. The worldview of a people (culture) originates from their unique experiences in time, location, and other factors over several millennia.
Worldview iceberg. Graphic courtesy of Alexcarabi.com.
For instance, my culture’s use of language fixes my worldview. I am a Southerner who will forever refer to more than one person as “ya’ll.” And I have many variations: ya’ll (more than one person) and all ya’ll (a group of people collectively increasing in size). No amount of exposure to other cultures, education, nor sophistication (yeah right) will ever remove this reference to a collective of people from me. And that collective reference is based on my Papa and Uncle Pat’s use of the term. Ya’ll will always remind me to be inclusive of all people. Their humble Cajun origins in the lower working class on Back Bay in Mississippi recognized that EVERYONE contributes and is to be welcomed and served. And I live into this.
Many factors go into shaping how we see the world personally, as well as what we inherit culturally. According to philosopher and worldview specialist Leo Apostel (1925-1995), a worldview is a descriptive model of the world. It should comprise these six elements:
An Ontology- explanation of reality, which questions, “What is it?”
An Explanation- deals with the past, which questions, “Where does it come from?”
A Prediction- deals with the future, which questions, “Where are we heading?”
An Axiology- values, answers to ethical questions, “What is good and what is evil?”
A Praxeology- methodology of action, which questions, “How should we act?”
An Epistemology- theory of knowledge, that questions “What is true and what is false?”
So we bring a particular way of viewing the world to an artifact when we encounter it for the first time (and often every time we approach it thereafter if we allow ourselves to think deeply). Consider the first time you saw Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) as a child. Then the first time you returned to it as an adult. You had a very different interaction because both your life experience and a more solidly developed worldview brought experiences and knowledge to the viewing that you didn’t have before. And as cultural theologian Andy Crouch states, “…human beings come into the world primed for culture…we are hardwired for nothing but learning.” We learn something new both about Anakin Skywalker’s journey as well as our own.
When teaching Bible and Pop Culture in the classroom, we discuss three primary ways to interact and deconstruct culture and its artifacts: through aesthetics, philosophy, and theology.
Aesthetics- Choices an artist makes in their medium to support the statement they’re making and following the “rules” of their medium. Art and assessing art is limitless, extraordinary, creative. Moving past taste: I like, I don’t like something. What mediums, artistic choices, are writers, painters, poets, filmmakers, and musicians using to support their thesis? How are they using their art to make statements and meaning? Asking the question- is it good? And responding to the question with a well thought out and reasoned why or why not.
Theology- Simply the study of what God thinks about a topic. Artists, both Christian and non make theological statements, but what are they? Can we see past our tastes, a medium, an aesthetic choice, or even the perversion of God’s truth to see what’s really being asked? What’s the artist exploring? What can we understand about God in the artifact? What is He saying? What does the Bible have to say about this?
Philosophy- A way of thinking about the world, the universe, and about society. Every cultural artifact is making a statement both secular and sacred. What worldview is the artist advocating? What are they exploring and attempting to state as truth? What do we do with that statement in a postmodernist culture?
In the class, we use the book Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch in which he states that once processed through meaning-making:
Our newly regained cultural awareness means that we are not satisfied, as earlier generations might have been, with separating our faith from our “worldly” activities, we want our lives, our whole lives, to matter for the Gospel. But what does that mean? That’s what we’ll find out here. We’ll learn to listen to it, learn from it, and affirm it while also critiquing it.
It’s using tools to make impactful and meaningful meaning to the culture around us.
Circles of Culture
So what is Pop Culture in light of this discussion? First, we’ll have to consider the Circles of Culture methodology to give us a frame of reference.
The idea of the all pervasive human culture. Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash.
To begin, let's look at the big, zoomed out version of culture. Imagine a vast circle that takes in the entire idea of culture, one shared by all peoples by merely living on Earth. This consists of the artifacts, institutions, and conventions available to and enjoyed by all. Think big: food, language, clothing, music, etc.
The concentric circles of subculture. Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash.
Contained within the large circle of culture are smaller sub circles of subcultures. These subcultures include ethnic circles, regional circles, and institutional cultures. For example, your career field is a subculture of the broader culture.
Let’s use this subculture of a specific career to explore the idea. Let’s say you live in Brazil (a subculture of world culture). Maybe you work in the medical field (a subculture within Brazil’s workforce). Within that field, you have your own terminology or language. The system of educating people within your career may be different from the American system of gaining knowledge (think hands-on kinesthetic learning vs. theory-based lectures). A specific mode of dress (scrubs for ease in cleaning) and order of hierarchy as well as communication/interaction styles based upon it (consider how a patient interacts with a doctor vs. a nurse, vs. a phlebotomist). There are many subcultures contained within the broader culture. There are hundreds of concentric circles contained within the idea of culture.
Pop Culture intersects many circles of culture simultaneously. Photo by Jeff Fielitz on Unsplash.
Then there is Popular Culture. Pop Culture cuts across, borrows freely from, intersects, is ever-growing and expanding, and is always threatening to overwhelm individual subcultures and replace a large portion of the prevailing culture with itself. Simply stated, it’s an idea, artifact, or convention that doesn’t stay in one circle, it transcends every sphere- if we let it.
One example of this phenomenon is Pop Music. There’s no one specific culture that listens to it- it's not limited to gender, age, belief system, ethnic group, or time to hold the artifact in one place. It transcends all. A great example of that is Bob Thiele’s song, “It’s a Wonderful World.” The song’s been remade a million times by various artists in various styles in multiple times: Louis Armstrong (Big Band), “Iz” Israel Kamakawiwo’ ole (Hawaiian uke), Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy (pop), Roy Clark (Country), Kenny G (instrumental), just to name a few of the many renditions available for culture’s consumption.
To make the most meaning out of an artifact, we take a specific item and make an assumption about it. Many of us have become desensitized to really considering life because of the bombardment of information and artifacts. But to really know an artifact and have a well-formed meaning for that object, we need a set of assumptions to think through.
Artifact Assumptions
In looking at an artifact, William Romanowski’s four Artifact Assumptions are beneficial in thinking more deeply about an object and its purpose in culture.
What does this cultural artifact assume about the way the world is? What key features of the world does it try to deal with, respond to, or make sense of? What kind of perspective does this artwork (artifact) offer on the matter of life it’s addressing?
What does this cultural artifact assume about the way the world should be? What vision of the future do the creators try to advocate? What new sense does it seek to add to a world that often is senseless or chaotic? What’s the validity of the “message”? Is it true or false?
What does this cultural artifact make possible? What can people do or imagine thanks to this artifact that they couldn’t before?
What new forms of culture are created in response to this artifact? What activities and experiences, previously part of the human experience, become all but impossible in the wake of this new artifact?
Let’s try it. Take one of the most prolific artifacts of our time: the iPhone or iPod. Don’t argue about Apple vs. Android, just think of the object itself and the innovations that have occurred since its introduction and the impact it's had on our lives applying Romanowski’s Artifact Assumptions.
Now that you’ve exercised your mind, are you more impressed with the invention? What did you learn? Can you imagine life without your device? Thinking more intentionally using this methodology helps you develop an informed opinion.
In exploring an object, we are now set to share the meaning we’ve made. One of the most mysterious and beautiful things about culture is that it has to be shared. It does not exist in a vacuum. Culture is not optional. If something is destroyed or disappears, another something will take its place. Why? Because one of the curious and mysterious things, is that we humans always need an answer to the questions: Why? What does it mean?
Concentric, intersecting circles. Photo by Freddy Marschall on Unsplash.
So What?
Romanowski notes that as representations of life, pop art (also think Pop Culture) can influence behavior, shape attitudes, and opinions, as well as inform perspectives. We are called to be in this world and to its culture, which will always be among us. To be useful salt and light, we must reflect and ponder on the artifacts and the world around us to speak its language as well as have an answer to its questions.
Just in the last month, I’ve come in contact with artifacts that show a hurting world in search of relief. Our culture desperately is searching for an answer to their hopelessness, despair, fear, and hurt. Just in December 2019 alone, I’ve witnessed this phenomenon in characters in two prominent artifacts: Mr. Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) and Rev. Robin Woods in The Crown (2017-2019). Both characters give a thoughtful Christian answer to a hurting world represented in the main character, through who we experience the story. And their responses to the pain and searching of the main characters were profound.
As Christians, if we do not thoughtfully explore the artifacts of our culture, we remove our voice and our critically wrestled out solutions from the discussions going on around us. And sadly, from the deep response to the grueling questions of our time. And I must ask if we have done so for the comfort of our tribe and tribal speak, are we any longer the salt and light we’re called to be?
Resources
We’ve created a free downloadable PDF to explore the article deeper. It contains discussion questions about the topic in general terms that will give you a jumping-off point for beginning a conversation.
The second page contains a way to see the topic from a biblical perspective.
And finally, to go deeper into the subject, we have chosen a few curated resources to explore from other authors’ and thinkers’ research or perspectives.
Read. Engage. Enjoy!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Depending on how a gem is held, light refracts differently. At B+PC we engage in Pop Culture topics to see ideas from a new angle, to bring us to a deeper understanding. And like Pastor Shane Willard notes, we want “…Jesus to get bigger, the cross to get clearer, the Resurrection to be central…” Instead of approaching a topic from “I don’t want to be wrong,“ we strive for the alternative “I want to expand my perspective.”
So, we invite you to engage with us here. What piqued your curiosity to dig deeper? What line inspired you to action? What idea made you ask, “Hmmm?” Let’s join with our community to wrestle with our thoughts in love in the Comment Section! See you there!