Cultural Mainstreams Tutorial Task

Cultural diffusion is the process of one culture influencing another and has existed for as long as humans have. However, determining the ethics of the use of another culture’s aesthetic is not always an easy task as it can be difficult to determine the point at which one crosses into the unethical terrain of cultural appropriation. This tutorial activity is designed to help us understand the way cultural artefacts are subsumed into the mainstream and how to avoid cultural appropriation.

Making Sense of the Mainstream

The mainstream is a value-laden category that frequently derives its meaning in association with its multiple corollaries such as counter-culture, subculture, underground, indie, folk, alternative, experimental and avant-garde. In this lesson, we problematise our perceptions of mainstream culture and examine … READ MORE