Mass culture of the second half of the twentieth century in the theories of postmodernity

The article examines the reasons for the rise of mass culture in the West in the second half of the 20th century, as well as some modern trends in its development. Mass culture has often become a target for various kinds of intellectuals, but has not been subjected to deep analysis. In particular, the spread of mass culture temporally coincides with the period of "postmodernity". "Postmodern" / "postmodernism" is considered within the framework of the theories of F. Jameson and A. Huyssen. That is, as a phenomenon that initially appeared in the United States - the largest country, the least affected by World War II. Simultaneously with unprecedented standards of consumption and the development of technology, there was a "domestication" and institutionalization of modernist art. As a result, protest cultural movements against official, elitist, corporate modernism arise in the United States. The work uses methods of historical-genetic, comparative, cultural analysis. In the theory of postmodernism as the cultural logic of late capitalism, formulated by the American philosopher F. Jameson, mass culture has finally received recognition as an object worthy of study. In this article, the author highlights a number of trends inherent in the development of mass culture. On the one hand, this is a significant loss of originality, secondary processing of old material. On the other hand, it is necessary to note not the simplification, but the complication of many works of mass culture, the emergence of niche products, initially designed for an informed, jaded and critically minded reader or viewer. However, this should not mislead the consumer, but only provide material for the construction of one's own identity in the conditions of the total dominance of economic discourse.

capitalism, late capitalism, postmodernity, postmodernism, mass culture, popular culture, cultural hierarchies, F. Jameson, art and commerce, consumption