An Introduction to Cultural Studies

 

“The unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates

 

Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary field of study as it includes all areas of human experience such as religion, politics, economy, education, architecture, art, literature, philosophy and so on.  As a discipline it examines the cultural phenomena in various societies. Culture can be considered as the source of art, literature and everything. It looks and examines the popular cultures of everyday life.

The primary concern of cultural studies is understanding and locating ourselves. Cultural studies evaluate all individual being as a subject. As it deals with the everyday life there comes wide varieties of topics in Cultural studies. It’s not a single standardized approach but a field that binds everything.

It is based on anti-positivist assumption, in the sense it deals with all areas of human life which indeed beyond the scientific method of investigation. There is nothing definite about it. It’s not possible to bring out an exact formula for cultural studies. Every notions associated with cultural studies are abstract and there is not an exact referent point. The aim of the Cultural studies is to refine, improve or rather furnish human life.

Raymond Williams describes that culture is there in every society and every mind as it made by men. It is meant for artistic, psychological, intellectual, logical, conceptual, academical, aesthetical and spiritual development.

As a discipline the foundation of Cultural studies was laid by FR Leavis with his work “The great tradition”. It shows the traditions of the great novelists like Jane Austen, Henry Fielding and Joseph Conrad etc. He suggests that one has to read and learn from them in order to make life better. It largely deals with the question where can we situate our own life.

FR Leavis underlined this aspect of literary criticism that one must include the cultural aspects in literary criticism. The culture according to Leavis is the method of imbibing lessons from the great writers.

According to Matthew Arnold culture is the best version of life that are known and thought in the world.

As far as T.S Eliot is concerned culture is that which makes life worth living.

Raymond Williams suggests that Culture is ordinary and the whole way of life. E.P Thompson, Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams democratized the notion of culture as there is no distinction between high and low.