In sociology, the term Low culture identifies the forms of popular culture that have mass appeal, which is in contrast to High culture, which has a limited appeal to a smaller proportion of the populace. Culture theory proposes that both high culture and low culture are

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

s within a society, because each type of popular culture is mass produced by the culture industry, for every social class.

Standards and definitions

In ''Popular Culture and High Culture: An Analysis and Evaluation of Taste'' (1958),

Herbert J. Gans Herbert J. Gans (born May 7, 1927) is a German-born American sociologist who taught at Columbia University from 1971 to 2007. One of the most prolific and influential sociologists of his generation, Gans came to America in 1940 as a refugee fro ...

defines and identifies ''Low culture'':

Culture as social class

Each

social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...

possess their own types of high-culture and of low-culture, the definition and content of which are determined by the socio-economic and educational particulars, the ''

habitus Habitus may refer to: * Habitus (biology), a term commonly used in biology as being less ambiguous than "habit" * Habitus (sociology), embodied dispositions or tendencies that organize how people perceive and respond to the world around them * ' ...

'' of the people who compose a given social class. Therefore, what is ''high culture'' and what is ''low culture'' has specific meanings and usages collectively determined by the members of a social class.

History

Physical artefacts from low culture are normally small, cheaply and often crudely made, in contrast to the often grand public art or luxury objects of high culture. The cheapness of the materials, many perishable, generally means that survivals to modern times are rare. There are exceptions, especially in pottery and graffiti on stone. An ostracon is a small piece of pottery (or sometimes stone) which has been written on, for any of a number of purposes, among which curse tablets or more positive magical spells such as

love magic Love magic is the belief that magic can conjure sexual passion or romantic love. Love magic is often used in literature, like fantasy or mythology, and it is believed it can be implemented in a variety of ways, such as by written spells, dolls, ...

are common. Wood must have been a common material, but only survives for long periods in certain climatic conditions, such as Egypt and other very arid areas, and permanently wet and slightly acid peat bogs. Once printing (and paper) became relatively cheap, by the late Renaissance, popular prints became increasingly widespread, and cheap texts of

street literature Street literature is any of several different types of publication sold on the streets, at fairs and other public gatherings, by travelling hawkers, pedlars or chapmen, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Robert Collison's account of t ...

such as broadsides and sheets with broadside ballads, typically new topical words to a familiar tune. These became extremely common, but were treated as

ephemera Ephemera are transitory creations which are not meant to be retained or preserved. Its etymological origins extends to Ancient Greece, with the common definition of the word being: "the minor transient documents of everyday life". Ambiguous in ...

, so that survivals are few. Much traditional folk music was only written down, and later mechanically recorded, in the 19th century, when nationalist sentiment in many countries made it of interest to middle class enthusiasts.

Mass media

Audience

All cultural products (especially high culture) have a certain demographic to which they appeal most. Low culture appeals to very simple and basic human needs plus offers a perceived return to innocence, the escape from real world problems, or the experience of living vicariously through viewing someone else's life on television.

Stereotypes

Low culture can be formulaic, employing trope conventions,

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...

s and character archetypes in a manner that can be perceived as more simplistic, crude, emotive, unbalanced, or blunt compared to high culture's implementations—which may be perceived as more subtle, balanced, or refined and open for interpretations.