Popular Culture

Once viewed as the antithesis of high cultural art forms (e.g., opera, literature, or classical music), popular culture was a term coined to describe the art and communication forms that were aimed at the masses. As such, popular culture includes forms such as newspapers, television, advertising, popular music, “low-brow” novels, film, and so on. Inherent in this delineation between high and low art is an assumption that the latter forms are of lesser quality. In the past couple of decades, however, a high level of academic interest has been directed to popular culture, which confirms the need for educators to seriously consider both the topic and its impact for young people.

Popular culture is an important topic in relation to giftedness because although a great deal is known about how parents, peers, teachers, and [Page 687]schools influence the development of talent, little is known about the role that popular culture plays in the realization of talent. This entry summarizes the relatively small quantity of research that has been conducted on giftedness and popular culture, most of which deals with the medium of television. The research literature has also been directed more toward gifted girls than boys. The entry concludes with recommendations for the type of research that is still needed on this topic.