The Ciritics of American Television Violence Culture(美国电视暴力文化的批评)

The Critics of American Television Violence Culture

Abstract: Culture is a historical phenomenon. It is a deposit of social history as well as the carrier of history, so culture is considered to be a historical culture form and it can be interpreted from a historical perspective. This thesis chooses contemporary American popular culture---television as the research object, starts from the concept of culture by Raymond Williams, and gives a comprehensive illustration of popular culture. And finally, draw s the conclusion on the violence television’s impact on American society and culture.

Key words: Culture；Popular culture；Television violence

1.Culture

In order to define popular culture we first need to define the term …culture?. Raymond Williams (1983: 87) calls culture …one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language?. Williams suggests three broad definitions. First of all, culture can be used to refer to …a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development? (ibid : 90). A second use of the word …culture? might be to suggest …a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period or a group? (ibid.). Finally, Williams suggests that culture can be used to refer to …the works and practices of intellectual and e specially artistic activity? (ibid.). Using this definition, we would probably think of examples such as poetry, the novel, ballet, opera, and fine art. To speak of popular culture usually means to mobilize the second and third meanings of the word …culture?. 2.Popular culture

There are six definitions about popular culture. The first definition is to say that popular culture is simply culture that is widely favored or well liked by many people. We could examine sales of books, sales of CDs and DVDs. A second way of defining popular culture is to suggest that it is the culture that is left over after we have decided what high culture is. A third way of defining popular culture is as …mass culture?. It is mass produced for mass consumption. A fourth defi nition contends that popular culture is the culture that originates from …the people?. It takes issue with any approach that suggests that it is something imposed on …the people? from above. A fifth definition of popular culture, then, is one that draws on the political analysis of the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, particularly on his development of the concept of hegemony. A sixth definition of popular culture is one informed by recent thinking around the debate on postmodernism.

3.Some critics about contemporary American popular culture

Some critics are concerned that popular culture in the form of contemporary movies, television, and rock music distracts students from serious literature and philosophy, thus ruining their imagination and undermining their abilities to recognize good art. The assumption is that because popular forms of culture are made for profit, they cannot be experienced with the same personal intensity as more elite are forms. Another concern is that popular culture is not just undermining or exploiting high culture but that it has inundated the culture environment, driving out higher forms of culture and cheapening public life. This concern is supported by data showing that TV sets are in use in the average American home for more than seven hours a day, exposing adults and children each year to thousands of hours of TV commercials and popular culture

4.The cultural impact of violence television

Since television has become the most dominant mass medium, it has been the focus of most of the media-effects research in recent years. Over the years, a consensus has developed that high level of violence viewing in the media cause aggressive behavior. Many critics claim that TV violence increases violence in our society and that the increase of violence in our culture is a direct result of television.

The new concern about violence in television was sparked by a growing amount of violence in American society and increasing evidence showing that viewing violence increased aggressive behavior among heavy viewers. According to a survey by the American Psychological Association called “Big World, Small Screen,”1,000 studies, reports, and commentaries concerning the impact of television violence had been published since 1955, and the accumulated research clearly demonstrated a correlation between viewing violence and aggressive behavior.( Neil Hickey, “How Much V iolence? What We Found in an Eye-opening Study,”TV Guide, August 22, 1992, P.12.)

The public also believes a strong correlation exists between violence on television and violence in the streets. A1993 poll by the Los Angeles Times found that four out of five Americans believe violence in television entertainment programs has directly contributed to violence in our society. Of the 79 percent who said there is a connection between TV violence and society’s increasing violence, two-thirds said they believed it was a significant cause. ( Daniel Cerone, “Most Say TV Violence Begets Real Violence,”Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1993, P.1)

Today’s American child no longer obtains his or her cultural values from the traditional family structure but instead gets them from the mass media. And some critics say that what they are getting is a popular culture filled with sex and violence.

Works cited:

[1] Storey, John.2009. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction, 5th edition, Harlow: Pearson Education.

[2] Williams, Raymond. 1983.Keywords, London: Fontana.

[3] Neil Hickey, “How Much V iolence? What We Found in an Eye-o pening Study,” TV Guide, August 22, 1992, P.12.

[4] Daniel Cerone, “Most Say TV Violence Begets Real Violence,” Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1993, P.1

[5] Campell Richard. 1998. Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication, St. Martin?s Pres s New Y ork.

[6] Wilson James and Wilson Stan Le Roy. 1998. Mass Media Mass culture: An Introduction, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc.

引用：

[1]层，John.2009。文化理论与通俗文化的介绍，第5版，哈洛：培生教育。

[2]威廉斯先生。1983.Keywords，伦敦：丰塔纳。

[3]尼尔·希基，“暴力多少？我们发现，在一个大开眼界的研究，“电视指南”1992年8月22日，第12页。

[4]丹尼尔Cerone，“最有发言权的电视暴力产生真正的暴力”，“洛杉矶时报”12月18日，1993年，P. 1

[5]坎贝尔理查德。1998年。圣马丁出版社：大众传播媒体和文化，纽约

[6]威尔逊詹姆斯·威尔逊和斯坦·勒罗伊。1998年。大众传媒大众文化导论“，第4版，

麦格劳- 希尔公司

美国电视暴力文化的批评

摘要：文化是一种历史现象。这是一个社会历史以及存款历史的载体，所以文化被认为是一个历史的文化形式，它可以解释从历史的角度看。本论文选择了当代美国流行文化---电视作为研究对象，从文化威廉斯（Raymond Williams）的概念，并给出了一个全面的说明流行文化。最后，得出结论，暴力电视对美国社会和文化的影响。

关键词：文化，大众文化，电视暴力

1.Culture为了定义流行文化，我们首先需要定义“文化”。雷蒙德·威廉斯（1983：87）调用的两个或三个最复杂的单词在英语'的文化之一。威廉姆斯提出了三个宽泛的定义。首先，文化是可以用来指“智力，精神和美学发展的一般过程”（同上：90）。“文化”这个词的第二个用途是表明一个特定的生活方式，无论是一个人，一段或一组“（同上）。最后，威廉姆斯认为文化可以用来指“的作品和做法的知识产权，特别是艺术活动”（同上）。使用这个定义，我们可能会认为，如诗歌，小说，芭蕾，歌剧和艺术的例子。说话的流行文化通常是指动员的“文化”这个词，第二个和第三个含义。

流行文化对流行文化的定义有6个。第一个定义是说，大众文化是简单的文化，被广泛看好，很多人都很喜欢。我们可以检查销售的书籍，CD和DVD的销售。定义流行文化的第二个方法是表明，它是文化遗留下来后，我们决定什么是高文化。流行文化的定义是“大众文化”的第三种方式。这是大规模生产的，适合大众消费。第四个定义争辩说，大众文化是从“人”的文化起源。它需要的任何方式表明，它是强加给“人民”从上面的问题。流行文化的第五个定义的话，就是一个借鉴的意大利马克思主义者葛兰西的政治分析，特别是对他的发展的概念霸权。第六流行文化的定义是后现代主义的辩论周围人通知最近的思维。

一些批评家对当代美国流行文化的一些批评者的关注，大众文化在当代电影，电视，音乐和摇滚音乐的形式分散严肃文学和哲学的学生，从而毁了他们的想象力和破坏了他们的能力，认识到良好的艺术。这里的假设是，因为流行的文化形式都是以盈利为目的，他们不能经历相同的个人强度随着越来越多的精英形式。另一个值得关注的是，大众文化，不只是破坏或利用高文化，但它已被淹没的文化环境，带动了更高的文化形式和掉价的公共生活。该关注的是所支持的数据显示，在普通美国家庭使用的电视机是，每天七小时以上，使成人和儿童每年数千小时的电视广告和流行文化

4，文化的影响，暴力电视

由于电视已经成为最有统治力的大众媒体，在最近几年，它一直是大多数的媒体效应的研究重点。多年来，已经达成共识，在媒体观看的暴力造成，高水平的侵略行为。许多批评者声称，电视中的暴力会增加暴力在我们的社会，在我们的文化中是一个暴力的增加，直接导致了电视。

电视中的暴力行为的新的关注有越来越多的暴力在美国社会引发的沉重的观众越来越多的证据显示，观看暴力事件增加之间的侵略行为。根据美国心理协会的一项调查显示，被称为“眼观六路，小屏幕，1,000研究，报告和评论，有关电视暴力的影响已发表自1955年以来，积累的研究清楚地表明观看暴力和攻击性之间的相关性（尼尔·希基，“多少暴力？大开眼界研究中我们发现了什么，”电视指南“8月22日，1992年，第12页。）的行为。

公众也认为，在街上在电视上的暴力和暴力之间存在很强的相关性。1993年由洛杉矶时报“的民意调查发现，四五个美国人相信在电视娱乐节目中的暴力行为有直接的暴力行为在我们的社会作出贡献。79％的人说，电视中的暴力和社会的不断增加的暴力活动之间的连接，三分之二的人说，他们认为这是一个重要的原因。（丹尼尔Cerone，“最有发言权的电视暴力产生真正的暴力，”洛杉矶时报“12月18日，1993年，第1页）今天的美国孩子不再获得他或她的文化价值观从传统的家庭结构，而是让他们从

大众媒体。一些批评者说，他们得到的是一个充满了色情，暴力的流行文化。