Unit 7 - Cultural Studies: Theories, Concepts & Applications
UGC NET English Paper 2 Complete Study Material
📚 This comprehensive unit covers foundational theories, key concepts, and critical approaches in Cultural Studies essential for UGC NET English Paper 2 preparation.
Origins (Birmingham School), Key characteristics, Interdisciplinarity, Culture as 'whole way of life' (Williams), High vs. popular culture debates.
"Culture is ordinary: that is the first fact." - Raymond Williams
Key Concepts: Cultural materialism, Encoding/decoding, Cultural hegemony, Ideological state apparatuses
Study FoundationsMarxist cultural studies (Althusser, Gramsci), Feminist cultural studies, Poststructuralist approaches, Postmodern cultural studies.
Dominance maintained not by force but by cultural consent
Ruling class ↔ Subordinate classes (negotiation)
Key Theorists: Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams, Richard Hoggart, E.P. Thompson
Explore TheoriesOrientalism (Said), Hybridity (Bhabha), Subaltern studies (Spivak), Colonial discourse analysis.
"The East is a career." - Edward Said (quoting Disraeli)
Key Concepts: Othering, Mimicry, Ambivalence, Neocolonialism, Diaspora
Analyze PostcolonialismConstruction of gender, Queer theory, Masculinity studies, Feminist cultural analysis.
Gender is not what one is but what one does
Repetitive acts → Illusion of stable identity
Key Theorists: Judith Butler, Laura Mulvey, bell hooks, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
Study Gender TheoriesAnalysis of media, Advertising, Consumer culture, Fandom studies, Digital cultures.
"There is no such thing as the people; there are only ways of constructing the people." - Stuart Hall
Key Concepts: Cultural capital, Spectacle, Simulacra, Participatory culture, Meme culture
Explore Popular CulturesCritical race theory, Whiteness studies, Colonial racial formations, Intersectionality.
"Race is a social construct." - Stuart Hall
Key Concepts: Racialization, Double consciousness, Colorism, Cultural appropriation
Study Race TheoriesSemiotics of visual culture, Gaze theory, Media representation, Digital media studies.
Cinema constructs:
1. Voyeuristic (woman as image)
2. Fetishistic (woman as spectacle)
Key Concepts: Scopophilia, Interpellation, Media ecology, Viral culture
Analyze MediaMuseums as cultural sites, Heritage debates, Cultural industries, Copyright and cultural production.
"All museums are theaters of memory." - Tony Bennett
Key Concepts: Cultural citizenship, Public sphere, Creative industries, Cultural governance
Study Cultural PolicyCultural imperialism, Glocalization, Transnational flows, Diaspora cultures.
"The global is in the local." - Arjun Appadurai
Key Concepts: Cultural hybridity, Scapes (ethno-, media-, techno-, etc.), McDonalization, Cosmopolitanism
Explore GlobalizationTextual analysis, Ethnography, Discourse analysis, Audience studies, Digital methods.
1. Dominant-hegemonic reading
2. Negotiated reading
3. Oppositional reading
Key Methods: Semiotics, Content analysis, Visual analysis, Participatory action research
Learn MethodsCultural Studies Practice
Identify the Cultural Concept
The process by which dominant groups in society maintain power by making their worldview seem like 'common sense' and 'natural'.
Match the Theorist to the Concept
Cultural Studies Terminology
Which term describes the blending of cultural elements from different traditions?
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