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UNIT 1: Introduction to Philippine Popular Culture

 

1.0 Intended Learning Outcomes

a. Create a timeline of the chronology of modernization of Philippine popular
culture;
b. Explain the concept and definition of popular culture;
c. Compare and contrast the different perspectives of popular culture;
d. Express appreciation of the elements of unity in diversity of Philippine
popular culture.
 
1.1 Introduction

Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally

recognized by members of a society as a set of the practices, beliefs, and objects
that are dominant or prevalent in a society at a given point in time. Popular
culture also encompasses the activities and feelings produced as a result of
interaction with these dominant objects.

Historical Influences of Filipino Popular

Culture

Philippine culture at the current age is a

conglomeration of myriad of economic,
political, religious, and geographic factors
blended through history. These elements
evolved from its pre-colonial beginnings,
affected by Asian heritage, assumed Hispanic
influences then acculturated with American
way of life, and eventually emerged in its
characteristics.

The culture of the Philippines is a

combination of cultures of the East and West
(Baringer, 2006). Filipino identity was created
primarily as a result of pre-colonial cultures,
colonial influences and foreign traders Figure 1. Figure 1. Source: by Gilda Cordero-Fernando, M. G.
intermixing and gradually evolving together. Chaves . https://www.amazon.com/ Pinoy-Pop-Culture-
Gilda-Cordero-Fernando/dp/B0006E8MFA
Thus, the culture and way of life of Filipinos
have evolved from that of the monarchical political structure with religious
influences in the pre-colonial and colonial times, to the democratic and secular kind
in the American, post-colonial and modern era.

In pre-colonial times, the Philippines was a divided set of peoples,

islands and tribes being ruled by their own kings, chieftains, lakans, rajahs,
datus and sultans. Every nation has its own identity and some are even part of a
larger empire outside of what is now the Philippines. Manila, for example, was

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once part of the Islamic Sultanate of Brunei, and the Sulu Archipelago was also
part of the Hindu Majapahit. The advent of colonial rule in the islands marked
the beginning of the Philippines as an entity, a collection of Southeast Asian
countries united under Spanish Empire.

Chinese influence has been felt throughout Southeast Asia through trade,
specifically by the Ming dynasty and other earlier dynasties from as early as the 9th
century. The blending of indigenous, colonial and external influence is very evident
in the historic arts and traditions of the country.

The Philippine archipelago was first settled by Negritos; today, although

few in numbers, they preserve a very traditional way of life and culture. After
them, the Austronesians arrived on the archipelago. The Austronesian culture is
strongly evident in the ethnicities, languages, cuisine, music, dance and almost
every aspect of the culture. These Austronesians engaged in trading with other
Austronesians, particularly in the neighbouring nations in Maritime Southeast Asia.
Theyalso traded with the Mainland Southeast Asia, as well as Japan, China, the
Indian subcontinent and Arabia. As a result, some of these cultures marked their
influences on Filipino culture. This gradually evolved with indigenous belief
systems and developedinto Anitism, which became the dominant religion for more
than a millennium (The Philippine.ph.; Philippine Almanac, 2012).

The Spanish Empire, via the Viceroyalty of New Spain, conquered the
islands between the 16th and 19th centuries (Batanes being one of the last places to
be colonized in the mid-1800s), resulting in Christianity to spread and dominate
throughout the archipelago and influenced the religion and beliefs of the natives.
Then, the Philippines became a U.S. territory for almost 50 years. Influence from the
United States is manifested in the wide use of the English language, media and in
the modern culture and clothing of present-day Philippines (Balinski, 2020).

Activity 1.Create a timeline of the emergence of the Philippine popular culture. Write the
significant cultural characteristics.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________
Pre-Colonial

_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________
Hispanic

_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________
American

1.2 Definition of Popular Culture

According to Storey (2018), popular culture is something that can be

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defined in a variety of conflicting ways by different people across different

contexts. But generally speaking, the primary driving force behind popular
culture is mass appeal. This element is produced by what cultural analyst
Theodor Adorno refers to as the "culture industry"(Crothers, 2021). Heavily
influenced in modern times by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates
the everyday lives of people in a given society. Therefore, popular culture has a
way of influencing an individual's attitude towards certain topics (McGaha,
2015). However, there are various ways to define pop culture (Srinati, 2004). It
is generally viewed in contrast to other forms of culture such as folk cults,
working-class culture, or high culture, and also through different high praised
perspectives such as psychoanalysis, structuralism, postmodernism, and more.
The most common pop-culture categories are: entertainment (such as film,
music, television and video games), sports, news (as in people/places in the
news), politics, fashion, technology, and slang (West, 2016).

The countries commonly thought to have the most pop culture influence
are the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Other countries, such as
South Korea, China, Italy, and France, are also highly influential.

Popular culture in the West has been critiqued for its being a system of
commercialism that privileges products selected and mass-marketed by the
upper-class capitalist elite; such criticisms are most notable in many Marxist
theorists such as Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Antonio
Gramsci, Guy Debord, Fredric Jameson, Terry Eagleton, as well as certain
postmodern philosophers such as Jean-François Lyotard, who has written about
the commercialisation of information under capitalism (Lyotard, 1979), and Jean
Baudrillard, as well as others (Jameson, 1991).

Figure 2. People connected through the social media. Source: Alamy Ltd. © 23/09/2021 All rights reserved.

Theories of Popular Culture

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1. The theory of mass society. Mass society formed during the 19th-century
industrialization process through the division of labor, the large-scale
industrial organization, the concentration of urban populations, the
growing centralization of decision making, the development of a complex
and international communication system and the growth of mass political
movements. The term "mass society", therefore, was introduced by
anticapitalist, aristocratic ideologists and used against the values and
practices of industrialized society. Theories of popular culture are often
subjected to bias and originate from a generalist perspective.

As Alan Swingewood points out in The Myth of Mass Culture,

(Swingewood, 1977: 5-8) the aristocratic theory of mass society is to be
linked to the moral crisis caused by the weakening of traditional centers of
authority such as family and religion. The society predicted by José Ortega
y Gasset, T. S. Eliot and others would be dominated by philistine masses,
without centers or hierarchies of moral or cultural authority. In such a
society, art can only survive by cutting its links with the masses, by
withdrawing as an asylum for threatened values. Throughout the 20th
century, this type of theory has modulated on the opposition between
disinterested, pure autonomous art and commercialized mass culture.

Thus, popular culture may have influenced the Filipino and Asian values to
be more inclined towards individualism and materialism, and tend to
detach the individual from family and the traditional values that keep the
family home together.

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Follow up:

What is the impact of mass society on the family as a microcosm and the
nation as a macrocosm?
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1. The theory of culture industry. The term culture industry (German:

Kulturindustrie) was coined by the critical theorists Theodor Adorno
(1903–1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), and was presented as
critical vocabulary in the chapter "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as
Mass Deception", of the book Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), wherein
they proposed that popular culture is akin to a factory producing
standardized cultural goods—films, radio programmes, magazines, etc.—
that are used to manipulate mass society into passivity (Horkheimer &
Adorno, 2002). Consumption of the easy pleasures of popular culture,
made available by the mass communications media, renders people docile
and content, no matter how difficult their economic circumstances
(Horkheimer & Adorno, 2002: 107) The inherent danger of the culture
industry is the cultivation of false psychological needs that can only be

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met and satisfied by the products of capitalism; thus Adorno and

Horkheimer especially perceived mass-produced culture as dangerous to
the more technically and intellectually difficult high arts. In contrast, true
psychological needs are freedom, creativity, and genuine happiness,
which refer to an earlier demarcation of human needs, established by
Herbert Marcuse (Durham, 2003).

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For follow up:

Consider how advances in technology which lead to products that are

digitally designed and computer generated, and cheap imported mass-
produced products and works of arts are valued compared to original,
hand-made, local arts and products. Does this change in attitude reflect
artistic docility and contentment? Does this attitude contribute to social
progress?
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2. Consumerism Theory. According to the postmodern sociologist Jean

Baudrillard, the individual is trained into the duty of seeking the
relentless maximisation of pleasure lest he or she become asocial
(Baudrillard, 1998, p.80). Therefore, "enjoyment" and "fun" become
indistinguishable from the need to consume. Whereas the Frankfurt
School believed consumers were passive, Baudrillard argued that
consumers were trained to consume products in a form of active labour in
order to achieve upward social mobility (Baudrillard, 1998, p.110). Thus,
consumers under capitalism are trained to purchase products such as pop
albums and consumable fiction in order to signal their devotion to social
trends, fashions and subcultures. Although the consumption may arise
from an active choice, the choice is still the consequence of a social
conditioning which the individual is unconscious of. Baudrillard says,
"One is permanently governed by a code whose rules and meaning-
constraints—like those of language—are, for the most part, beyond the
grasp of individuals" (Baudrillard, 1998, p.61).

In Baudrillard's understanding, the products of capitalist popular culture

can only give the illusion of rebellion, since they are still complicit in a
system controlled by the powerful. Baudrillard stated in an interview,
critiquing the content and production of The Matrix:

The Matrix paints the picture of a monopolistic superpower, like

we see today, and then collaborates in its refraction. Basically,
its dissemination on a world scale is complicit with the film
itself. On this point it is worth recalling Marshall McLuhan: the
medium is the message. The message of The Matrix is its own
diffusion by an uncontrollable and proliferating contamination
(Genosko & Adam, July 2004).

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Figure 3. RAT RACE Source: Ecosistema Urbano

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For follow up:

What are the spiritual and non-material impacts of consumerism in the life
of the individual and society?
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3. The theory of progressive evolution. A third view on popular culture, which

fits in the liberal-pluralist ideology and is often called "progressive
evolutionism", is overtly optimistic. It sees capitalist economy as creating
opportunities for every individual to participate in a culture which is fully
democratized through mass education, expansion of leisure time and
cheap records and paperbacks. As Swingewood points out in The Myth of
Mass Culture (Swingewood, 1977:22), there is no question of domination
here anymore. In this view, popular culture does not threaten high
culture, but is regarded by Swingewood as an authentic expression of the
needs of the people.

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Figure 4. Evolution of societies from the Hunting to Super Smart Society. SOURCE: ResearchGate.

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For follow up:

What are the concerns facing the idea of progressive evolution relative to
economy, freedom, and harmony in the community.
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1.3 References
 
Baringer, Sally E. (c. 2006). The Philippines. In Countries and Their Cultures.
Advameg Inc. Retrieved December 20, 2009 from
www.everyculture.com.
Baudrillard. J. (1998). The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures. 
Crothers, Lane (2021). Globalization and American Popular Culture. Rowman &
Littlefield. p. 48. ISBN  9781538142691.
Durham Peters, John (2003). The Subtlety of Horkheimer and Adorno.
Cambridge: Polity Press. ISBN 978-0-7456-2934-6.
Galloway, Lindsey (2 July 2018).  "The five countries that set world culture". BBC
Travel. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
https://m.facebook.com/107906457498592/photos/
Jameson, Frederic (1991). Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late
Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 1991.

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Horkheimer, Max and Adorno, Theodor W. (2002). Noerr, Gunzelin Schmid

(ed.). Dialectic of enlightenment philosophical fragments (PDF).
Translated by Edmund Jephcott. Stanford, California: Stanford
University Press. ISBN 978-0804736336. Archived from the original
(PDF) on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
Lyotard, Jean-François (1979). La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir.
Paris: Minuit.
McGaha, Julie. (2015) "Popular Culture & Globalization". Multicultural
Education 23.1 (2015): 32–37. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
Swingewood, Alan. (1977).  The Myth of Mass Culture, London: Macmillan.
Strinati, D. (2004). An introduction to theories of popular culture. Routledge.
Storey, J. (2018). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction. Routledge.
U.S. News.( 2020). "Cultural Influence".  Retrieved 25 June 2021.
West, Gary. (2016). What Is Pop Culture? By Gary West". Archived from the
original  on 2016-08-29. Retrieved 2015-03-17.

1.4 Acknowledgement
The authors would like to extend their heartiest thanks and respect to all those
who provided help in the preparation of this module. The information
contained in this module were taken from the references cited above

Unit 1 Assessment. Introduction to Philippine Culture

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Part I. Multiple Choice. Select the letter of the best answer and write in a
separate answer sheet.

1. Which of the following foreign influences did not affect the character of
popular culture of the Filipinos?
A. Chinese
B. American
C. Spanish
D. Russian

2. In the Pre-colonial times, these significant persons of the community

became its leaders, except one.
A. Kapitan
B. Lakan
C. Rajah
D. datu

3. What was the main reason why early inhabitants settled in the Philippine
islands?
A. Religious reasons
B. Political reasons
C. Trading and commerce
D. Adventurism

4. What was the major influence of Spain in the culture of the Filipinos?
A. Religious reasons
B. Political reasons
C. Trading and commerce
D. Adventurism

5. What is the major element that contributed to the diffusion and formation
of the modern culture of the Filipinos?
A. Media
B. Language
C. Economy
D. Religion

6. This city was once part of the Islamic Sultanate of Brunei.

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A. Manila
B. Cebu
C. Iloilo
D. Legazpi

7. This empire was Hindu in character.

A. Maharajah
B. Majapahit
C. Maharlika
D. Marawi

8. In what century did the Chinese started trading with inhabitants of the
Philippines?
A. 7th century
B. 8th century
C. 9th century
D. 10th century

9. What was the early indigenous belief system that developed among
Filipinos which was dominant for more than a millenium?
A. Animism
B. Anitism
C. Animalism
D. Ancient Belief
10. Which empire Christianized the Phlippines?
A. United States
B. Japan
C. Spain
D. Portugal

11. What is the primary driving force behind popular culture?

A. Mass media
B. Mass appeal
C. Social media
D. Entertainment

12. Which of the following countries does not have significant influence on
pop culture worldwide?
A. China

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B. India
C. United States
D. South Korea

13. What phenomenon in society caused the weakening of traditional centers

of authority such as family and religion
A. Overpopulation
B. Mass society
C. Culture
D. Economy

14. What is the theory which views the consumption of popular culture
through mass media as enabling the people to become docile and
contented?
A. Theory of culture industry
B. Theory of mass culture
C. Theory of consumerism
D. Theory of progressive evaluation

15. What theory states that popular culture is akin to a factory producing
standardized cultural goods which manipulate masses of people to become
passive?
A. Theory of culture industry
B. Theory of mass culture
C. Theory of consumerism
D. Theory of progressive evaluation

16. Which theory sees popular culture as a process of democratization through

mass education, expansion of leisure time and cheap products?
A. Theory of culture industry
B. Theory of mass culture
C. Theory of consumerism
D. Theory of progressive evaluation

17. Which theory says that popular culture aims maximize enjoyment and fun
rather responding to a human necessity.
A. Theory of culture industry
B. Theory of mass culture
C. Theory of consumerism

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D. Theory of progressive evaluation

18. What term was coined by Adorno and Horkheimer?

A. Culture industry
B. Mass culture
C. Consumerism
D. Progressive evaluation

19. What term was developed by Jean Baudrillard?

A. Culture industry
B. Mass culture
C. Consumerism
D. Progressive evaluation

20. Which of the following is not considered a category in pop culture?

A. Entertainment
B. Sports
C. Family values
D. Fashion

Part II.

What are the elements in Philippine popular culture which can contribute to
unity in diversity and contribute to common good and social progress?
Explain your answer. (10 points)

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