有关流行文化的英文阅读

　　无论你去到哪里，当地都会有自己的流行文化。但是，当你要去一个地方旅游的时候，最好还是先了解一下当地的文化吧。下面为大家送上一篇有关流行文化的英文阅读。

有关流行文化的英文阅读

　　when you think of american culture, what first comes to your mind? mcdonald's? coca cola? levi's? disneyland? michael jordan? julia roberts? many people imagine american culture is a collection of popular symbols like these. actually, these symbols are only one small part of american culture-"pop culture."

　　what is pop culture? well, pop is short for popular. the origins of pop culture can often be traced to popular movies, television shows, music stars and sports figures. pop culture is also promoted by business and advertising. the most common examples of american pop culture appear among high school and college students. trends set by famous personalities quickly become part of young people's lifestyles.

　　american pop culture has spread around the world. one major reason for its popularity is that english is a universal language. english is the language of diplomacy, international business and transportation. since language and culture go together, learning english means becoming aware of english-speaking cultures. also, america is a world leader in movies, music and magazines. the kind of american culture communicated in those media is pop culture. finally, pop culture is easy to package and to export. for that reason, it is easy to "sell" to the world.

　　(at a cafe in paris, france)

　　pierre: i just saw an advertisement for that recent american movie "the pelican brief". sounds interesting. want to go see it with me?

　　jean: i don't think so. i've got too much to do. besides, all of this american influence really bothers me. everybody's going to see american movies, listening to american rock music and eating american fast food.

　　pierre: oh, come on. don't be such a grouch. people just want to find out what america is all about. the movies i've seen make american lifestyles seem exciting. maybe we could learn a few things from them.

　　jean: learn a few things! yeah, sure. we'll learn how to be american and forget how to be french. if we follow american ways, it's going to change our own culture. americans will be the winners, and we'll be the losers.

　　pierre: now, wait a minute. you're forgetting that we have a global economy now. if we want to do business with americans, we have to understand their culture.

　　jean: if american culture is michael jackson, mickey mouse and mcdonald's, i don't want to understand it.

　　many people assume that american pop culture is what america is all about. does pop culture reflect the true culture of america? yes and no. pop culture does represent a portion of american society-especially urban young people that are tuned in to the media. but american pop culture is faddish and ever-changing. it is an artificial and superficial picture of america. if you want to learn about real american culture, you'll have to go a little farther than mcdonald's.

　　【拓展】

　　流行文化简介

　　一般来讲，流行文化是与高雅文化相对而言的。高雅文化一般“包括如古典音乐、严肃小说、诗、舞蹈、高雅艺术和其他为相对较少的并受过教育的人们欣赏的作品”。流行文化则是被普遍喜欢和热烈追随的文化，其主要功能是娱乐。如吉登斯就这样定义:“术语`流行文化'指的是被成千上万或几百万人观看、阅读或参与的娱乐”。海蒂兹进一步具体指出:“流行文化就是那类普遍可得的人工制品:电影、录音录像带、CD或VCD、时装、电视节目、沟通和交流的模式等”。根据上述文化与流行的讨论，我们也可以简单地用一句话将其界定为:许多人实践和追随的一种普遍的生活方式。

　　流行文化历史

　　流行文化(PopularCulture)属于文化的范畴。在学术发展史上，“文化”一直是最复杂的术语之一。最早在科学意义上为“文化”下定义的是英国文化人类学的奠基人泰勒，1871年，他在其代表作《原始文化》中写道:“文化或文明，就其广泛的民族学意义来讲，是一复合整体，包括知识、信仰、艺术、道德、法律、习俗以及作为一个社会成员的人所习得的其他一切能力和习惯”。这之后，至20世纪50年代初，文化定义已经有164种之多。著名学者T.伊格尔顿在其最新的大作中指出，文化这一术语一直是在对立的两极之间被使用:它太宽泛又太狭窄、太充满“人类学”的无所不包又太局限于美学意义上的思辨性。20世纪90年代，一些人类学者认为，文化定义可以归纳为两种，一为社会结构意义上的`文化，另一是个体行为意义上的文化。前者指的是一个整体社会中长期、普遍起作用的行为模式和行动的实际准则，这些模式在那些给事件和人际关系以明显结构的形态和反复出现的周期规律性中呈现出来，并且构成常被归为“生活方式”的那种东西。结构功能主义学派的拉德克利夫-布朗就持此观点。后者是个体习得的产物，包括一个人类群体成员为了在他参与活动的这个群体中被相互接受地交往而必须知道的东西。据此认识，文化不必为该社会甚或该群体所有成员所共享，而是在相互学习的过程中，有关成员彼此授受意义，以至这些意义能够使他们达到共同的目标，因为他们建立了共同的理解和文化的想像。

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