Jan
27
Faces of Popular Culture
Posted by: Brian | January 27, 2009 | Comments Off on Faces of Popular Culture
While this reading covers a large body of information I don’t think any article could represent the cultural identity or face of a region with so many backgrounds. I thought it was interesting how it focused on the middle ground between the traditional culture and the modern world of media. The connections between rural and urban culture are important because they represent people with different lives working together to sustain an identity for the entire region. These connections can be seen in art, music and religion as well as everyday life. I’m impressed by the way the radio was used to bring people together from very different backgrounds to create a hybrid of culture which could make it easier for everyone understand each other. The People’s Radio is an effort to recover the voice of people, history, tradition, and religion to communicate the hopes and problems of the people. It seems symbolic that the culture and hopes of people in rural areas are transmitted over airwaves so their voices are heard by everyone. These people would not have an opportunity to represent themselves without the opportunity of independent radio as a medium. In the western world opportunities of expression are taken for granted but giving people who haven’t been absorbed by modern culture a voice is unique.
