CULTURE

Culture has become a fashionable concept. This book argues that the history, various usages and different meanings of the concept derive from philosophy, critical aesthetics, literary criticism, anthropology and sociology. The book stresses that culture is a concept to be viewed within traditions, not as a modern invention. The book looks at the concept in the context of both idealism and materialism,examinesits relation to thenotion of social structureandassesses its once-assumed monopoly within literary study. Concepts of cultural polarization (high vs. low) and cultural reproduction are addressed, as is culture in relation to postmodernism. The book provides the grounds for understanding modern work rather than acompetitivereview ofthe ‘new’ in culturalstudies,althoughthe text provides readers with a clear and compelling assessment of the strengths and weaknessesofthe cultural studies approach.